


Heart Stopping Comeback

by KendallsCGU



Category: Big Time Rush (TV)
Genre: Gen, mentions of abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-19
Updated: 2021-02-08
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:08:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 28
Words: 55,365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23211523
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KendallsCGU/pseuds/KendallsCGU
Summary: He was a memory of the past – someone Kendall Knight had tried so hard to forget. But when Kendall’s past comes back to haunt him, will Logan, Carlos, and James be able to save him before it is too late?
Comments: 20
Kudos: 19





	1. Chapter 1

He didn't know how it happened. One minute, he was making his way towards the pool to relax. The next, he was frozen on the spot, right in the middle of the lobby, because of the sight that had met him once he had exited the elevator. It was a sight that caused his heartbeat to quicken, and his mind to be sent into overdrive. A flurry of emotions took over him, but the one that stood out the most of all to him, was fear. Fear because his father, Kenneth Knight, was standing right in front of Bitters' desk, when he should have been locked up in jail. Fear because the one person who had the power to make him absolutely vulnerable and terrified, was standing just a few meters away from him.

Everything seemed to come to a stop in that moment. He was left paralyzed; feet glued to the carpeted floor. It wasn't until his father turned in his direction—two pairs of green eyes meeting—that his mind finally seemed to communicate with his body. He fled from the lobby in a rush, not even bothering to wait for an elevator. Instead, he took the stairs two at a time, fear coursing through his entire body. All he wanted was to get to his apartment and never see that monster again, but he knew that the chances of that happening were very unlikely.

He didn't know what his father was doing at the Palm Woods, but having known him, he knew that whatever it was, it wasn't good. It wasn't good at all.

"Hey, Kendall, what are you—"

Kendall crashed into James almost as soon as he arrived at his sanctuary. Both boys went falling to the floor in a heap; the blond on top of the brunette. James gently pushed him off of him, gripping him by his shoulders as he took in the state the younger boy was in. He was shaking uncontrollably, tears swimming in his eyes.

"Kendall? Ken, what's the matter?"

Kendall opened his mouth to respond, but no words came out. He didn't get the chance to calm down and tell James what had happened, since just seconds later, a loud knock echoed through the living room. The shorter boy pushed James away and ran to his room, slamming the door shut behind him.

Confused and worried, James got up and made his way to the front door, figuring he might as well see who had arrived. He would find out what was wrong with Kendall as soon as he got the chance. But what he wasn't expecting, was to be met with a man who looked like the older version of Kendall, once he had opened the door.

"Hello," the older male said, extending his arm forward, as if expecting for James to shake his hand. James gave him a confused look, hesitantly shaking his hand. In the back of his mind, he had this thought that it was Kendall's dad who was standing before him. The thing was, that after everything he had put Kendall through, Kenneth should not have been released from jail yet—he should have been rotting in a cell for all the pain he had put him through. After all, that is what he deserved.

"Is Kendall Knight here? I need to speak with him."

"Who are you?" James questioned, needing to know if he was right. If he was really Kendall's father, there was no way he would allow him anywhere near him. Then it hit him—he must have been the reason the dirty blond was so scared just minutes before.

"I'm Kenneth, Kendall's—"

"Don't even say it."

Two heads turned around as Carlos' voice interrupted Kenneth in mid-sentence. The shorter boy was standing in the middle of the living room, frown upon his face. He made his way to stand besides James and glared at the taller man standing in front of them.

"You are not and will _never_ be Kendall's father. You had your chance, but you lost it. You're not welcome here."

"You really think someone like you is going to tell _me_ what to do?" Before either of the two boys could react, Kenneth had pushed Carlos back, which made James mad.

"Who the hell do you think you are?! You can't just come in here and demand to see Kendall like this. Like Carlos clearly stated, you're no longer a father figure to him. You lost that title when you laid a hand on him. Now, get _out_." He was seeing red. Now that he knew for sure that it was Kendall's father who they were dealing with, he would not allow him to be anywhere near Kendall—not if he could help it. He had hurt Kendall, both physically and mentally; scarred him for life. What kind of father did that to their own child?

Kenneth sent a glare in his direction, before opening his mouth to speak once more. "This is not the last you'll see of me," he warned as he turned around and left, leaving both James and Carlos confused and afraid of what he would do.

Carlos turned to James, fear clear in his eyes. "We can't let him go anywhere near Kendall," he said, to which James shook his head.

"No... we cannot."

* * *

_Meanwhile:_

Kendall ran to his room, tripping over his own feet on the way there. He didn't wait for James to open the door, fearing what would be on the other side. Instead, he shut his bedroom door behind him and let his back slide against the hard wood, trying his best to catch his breath and keep himself calm.

"Dude, are you alright?"

Logan's voice caused the dirty blond to jump, not expecting him to be there. He turned to the shorter brunette with a fearful expression and shook his head from side to side.

"I'm..." Again, no words came out. He pulled his knees to his chest and watched as Logan got up from where he was sitting on his bed, and walked towards him.

"Hey," Logan kneeled down in front of Kendall, laying a hand on his shoulder, "what's wrong? Did something happen?" He grew worried for the taller boy, not being used to seeing him so scared and upset.

"H-He... He's b-back," Kendall stuttered as tears started to roll down his face. "I can't do this again... I can't."

"Who's back?" Logan asked, clearly confused. He could hear the muffled sound of voices coming from outside the bedroom, but he paid no attention to them. His main priority in that moment was Kendall, and seeing what it was that had him so upset.

"My d-d-dad," Kendall whispered. The tremors that shook his body only seemed to intensify as each second passed by.

"But... he can't be. Your dad is in jail. Where would you get an idea like that one?" the brunette asked cautiously, frowning not only at the news, but also because Kendall looked absolutely terrified.

"I saw him in the lobby... And someone just knocked on the door, that's why I came running in here... I'm sure it's him... He s-saw me." The tears started to roll down Kendall's cheeks at a faster pace. Not knowing what to do, Logan pulled him into a hug and started to rub circles against the boy's quivering back, attempting to calm him down.

"It's gonna be okay. If it is him who's here, James and Carlos won't let him come anywhere near you, and neither will I. You're safe, alright?" He tangled his fingers in Kendall's blond locks, feeling the younger boy cling to him as he sobbed into his chest.

"I'm s-so scared," Kendall admitted, his face still buried against Logan's t-shirt. "H-He's not supposed to be here..."

"No, he's not, and we'll find a way to get him out of here. But, for now, trust me when I say you're safe. He's not going to hurt you again, I promise you that."

The voices coming from outside the bedroom rose in volume. Logan frowned, wanting to know what it was that was happening out there. It wasn't long before the yelling stopped and someone knocked on their door. Kendall clung to Logan even more so, afraid of who would be standing there.

"Guys, it's me," James said from the other side. "Can I come in?"

"Yeah, wait up." Logan helped Kendall to move out of the way, then told James he could come in. The taller brunette cautiously opened the door and walked inside, followed closely behind by Carlos. The two boys took in the sight in front of them and their hearts broke.

Carlos was the first one to kneel down and take Kendall's face in between his hands. "Hey," he whispered, wiping away the tears rolling down the boy's face. "Ken, listen to me, he's gone."

"F-For now."

"He's not going to come anywhere near you. We won't let him."

"Carlos is right, Kendall," James said, taking a seat beside the little Latino. "He'll have to walk over our dead bodies in order to get to you."

"I-I know... I'm just so scared," he said in a low whisper, wishing this would all just be a horrible nightmare. And it _was_ a nightmare, but this nightmare was real. There was no getting out. He couldn't just wake up and escape it, like he wished he could.

"It's gonna be okay." James pulled both Kendall and Logan into a hug, resting his chin on top of Kendall's head. "Everything's gonna be alright."

Kendall didn't respond, but rather closed his eyes, feeling Carlos join in on the hug as well. There were no words to explain how emotionally exhausted he was in that moment. All he wanted was to forget and leave his father behind, but it seemed like the odds were against him.

 _I hope you're right_ , he thought, as he was engulfed by words of comfort and by exhaustion, all at once.


	2. Chapter 2

A soft sigh escaped James' lips as he felt Kendall's body go completely limp in his hold. Carlos and Logan watched the two from where they were sitting in front of them on the floor, eyes filled with worry for their younger friend. It had taken a while to calm him down, and even when they had managed to do so, the tears didn't stop falling. It was a rare sight; very unlike the strong demeanor Kendall showed on a daily basis. This was a side of Kendall that they rarely saw, and one that they hated to see. He was always seen as the strong one, the leader, the one who guided them through dark times and helped them up when they got knocked down.

But this Kendall? This wasn't the Kendall they were used to. He was vulnerable, afraid, and in need of comfort and protection, and it scared all three of them knowing that Kendall's father could reduce him to this.

"I'm so worried," Carlos whispered, quietly, as to not awaken the sleeping blond.

"So am I," James whispered back, bringing Kendall closer in a careful manner, fearing what would happen if he were to stir him out of his sleep.

Beside him, Logan brought his knees up to his chest and hid his face against them, wanting more than anything to wake up and find out that this was all some sort of nightmare. James noticed this and nodded his head in Logan's direction, catching Carlos' attention. The shorter Latino nodded and scooted closer to the brunette, letting a hand rest against his shoulder.

"Let's go to the living room, okay?" Carlos said softly, watching as Logan's eyes filled up with unshed tears. "James will look after Kendall. We'll just be right outside the door," he added when Logan shook his head vigorously in response.

"O-Okay." In shaky legs, the slightly taller boy got up and followed Carlos towards the door, but not before looking back and making sure James would be okay.

"Go," James urged him. That was enough for Logan to follow Carlos and close the door behind them.

"Why did you want to get out of there?" Logan asked Carlos as soon as the two were out of earshot. He kept his eyes down and away from meeting Carlos' eyes. The shorter boy didn't respond right away. Instead, he grabbed Logan by the wrist and guided him to the neon orange couch in the living room, pushing him to sit on it once they were there.

"Are you okay?" Carlos asked, taking a seat beside his friend. Logan looked down at his hands, which he was moving nervously, his gaze still not meeting Carlos'.

"You didn't answer my question," Logan said bluntly, raising his head but staring forward.

" _No_ ," Carlos stated firmly, " _you_ didn't answer _my_ question."

"Carlos, I'm... I'm fine. I'm just worried, that's all. I don't like seeing Kendall like this... I hate it," he said quietly, looking down again. "I thought this was over with. I thought that bastard wouldn't come back into his life again." He bit down on his bottom lip in a futile attempt to keep the tears at bay. "I don't want to go through what we went through back then one more time. I don't want _him_ to experience that again."

"I know." Carlos wrapped his right arm around Logan's shoulders, pulling him close. "It'll be okay. Kendall's strong, he'll get—"

"No." Logan pulled away from Carlos' hold, turning to him with an upset look. "I _know_ that Kendall is strong, I know that. But Kendall's not a superhero. I know we, us three, we like to pretend that he is, because he puts up this bravado all the time. But you saw him in there..." His voice faltered as more tears began to gather in his eyes. "He's not a superhero, Carlos. He may be strong, but even the strong break sometimes," he said softly.

Carlos stayed silent, allowing Logan's words to sink in. Minutes seemed to tick by, but in reality, it was only seconds, until he turned to Logan solemnly.

"I'm not stupid, Logan," he said in an almost inaudible voice. He tried hard to keep the tears from falling, but just like Logan, he failed to do so. "I may be naive, but I'm not stupid."

"Carlos, that's not what—"

"No, I know. But do you really think I don't know any of that? I've seen Kendall break down—we have all seen him at his worst. It may have been a long time ago, but it happened. No matter how long ago it was, we can't deny that it did."

Logan remained silent at the next words that spilled from Carlos' lips.

"You know, as a kid, I used to always look up to him. Heck, I still do." Logan wanted to interrupt and say that he already knew this, but he remained quiet. "He was always the one to fight off the bullies, the protector, the voice of reason... Then, things started to change, right before you became a part of our little group. He started becoming more distant. I remember him coming to school with bruises all over his body, and when confronted about them, he would make up some random excuse to cover them up. Even then, when he was obviously hurting, he still continued to look after me and James, and soon, you as well."

Carlos let out a sob, and Logan tried to pull him close, but Carlos shook away from his grasp.

"And then... then we found out about what happened, and everything started to make sense. Everything kind of... came crashing down. Suddenly, Kendall wasn't Kendall anymore. He was a frightened, emotionally and physically hurt, little boy, and I... I couldn't do anything to stop it."

Logan pulled Carlos close, and this time he didn't try to fight him. He collapsed against Logan's body, tears spilling from his eyes and down his cheeks at a rapid pace.

"S-So I tell myself t-that Kendall is strong, because it's my way of telling myself that things will be okay... even if I don't even believe it myself..."

"Carlos," Logan started softly, fingers carding through black tufts of hair, "none of this is your fault, 'Los, and I need you to do your best to start believing it. No one ever imagines that a parent would ever hurt their child in such a way, so you couldn't have known. We were only eight, too young to understand that, much less to come up with such a conclusion and figure it out ourselves."

"I just wish he h-hadn't come back," Carlos said brokenly.

"Me too, but now that he has, we gotta try our best to keep Kendall safe, and find a way to get him out of the Palm Woods and as far away from him as possible." He didn't even wait for a response, pulling Carlos up to his feet, but keeping him close.

"I came here to help you, and you ended up being the one to knock some sense into me," Carlos said. "I'm such a big help."

"You _are_ ," Logan assured him. "You might think that you're not, but you are. Now, what do you say we cook dinner, that way Kendall has something to eat when he wakes up, and we can get our minds off of this?"

Carlos gave him a small nod in response, the tiniest of smiles forming on his lips.

"Good." Logan smiled, giving him a pat on the shoulder, and they both headed to the kitchen in search of something to make for the four of them.

* * *

James watched as Logan and Carlos left the room, knowing fully well that they both needed to get away from the confined space. He turned his attention back to the blond in his arms, who at first glance looked peaceful as he slept, but there was no way of telling what was going on in the inside.

He felt the smaller boy shift in his hold, burying his face against the crook of James' neck. How he wished that he could stay that way forever—pain-free, at peace (at least, he hoped), and away from harm's way.

"I'm not going to let him hurt you," he whispered, leaning down and pressing a kiss to the boy's dark blond hair. "We won't." That was a promise he intended to keep, despite knowing that Kendall hadn't heard him.

Anyone who really knew James, knew that just like Kendall, he was protective of his best friends. He wasn't selfish, self-centered, or arrogant, and that's what many thought because of his confident personality. Those three boys meant the absolute world to him, and he would do anything to keep them all safe. They were his brothers, perhaps not by blood, but he loved them just as much. As long as he could help it, Kendall's so-called father wouldn't come anywhere near him.

Carefully, the tall brunette balanced the other boy in his arms and got up from the floor. He lowered him to his bed and tucked him in, making sure that he was still fast asleep, before slipping out of the room to go check on Carlos and Logan.

"Carlos, give me that!"

James watched as Logan attempted to take a box of corndogs away from the shorter boy's hands.

"But I wanted to make corndogs!"

"You had corndogs yesterday!"

"Yes... But I LOVE corndogs!"

Logan shook his head, grabbing the box, making Carlos pout. It was a sight that would usually make James laugh, but at that moment, it didn't seem to do the trick.

"Guys?" James made his way towards them, stopping right in front of them. "Are you guys alright?"

"We're fine... We talked things out. Are you okay?" Logan questioned him, taking notice of the broken expression on the usually cheerful boy's face.

"Yeah..."

Logan turned to Carlos, and Carlos to Logan, before the two stepped closer to the taller boy and enveloped him in a hug.

"It'll be okay, James," Logan said softly.

"But, what if... What if it's not?"

"Hey," Carlos pulled away, looking him in the eye, "what would Kendall say if he was here?" James didn't have to think long before coming up with an answer.

"That things will be okay, as long as we stick together," he responded, a small smile coming to his face. Logan and Carlos smiled at his words.

"Exactly. Kendall will be fine, everyone and everything will be fine, but we gotta look out for each other, just like we always do."

James opened his mouth to respond, but before he could do so, a loud crash came from Logan and Kendall's room. The three boys turned to each other briefly, and then rushed towards the door, only to be met by a sight that tore their hearts in two.


	3. Chapter 3

_"Kendall, where are you? You know you can't hide from me, right? I'll find you. I always do."_

_Kendall ran towards his bedroom door as quietly as he could, closing the door shut and locking it, hoping that it would prevent his father from walking into the room. Trying not to panic (but failing miserably), he rushed to his closet and crawled inside, successfully hiding behind all his clothes._

_The only sound he could hear at that moment was that of his labored breathing and the faint sound of his heart beating at a rapid pace against his chest. Part of him wanted to get out of there, because the confined space was making him even more anxious, and he was sure that he was in the brink of having a panic attack. However, he couldn't risk his dad finding him. He was absolutely terrified of him._

_The sound of the bedroom door handle being shaken, startled him out of his thoughts. He held his breath, panic starting to build up inside him._

_"Are you in there, you dirty brat?"_

_Kendall couldn't help the tears that started to fill his eyes at his father's words. From where he sat in the closet, he could hear the man's desperate attempts to open the door, but suddenly, everything went silent. The silence didn't last long, though, for a crash soon followed, and only seconds later, the closet door was being yanked open, revealing a very red-faced, furious Mr. Knight._

_"You little—"_

_"Please don't hurt me, daddy! Please..." Kendall cried out, the tears now falling from his eyes and making his vision blurry. "I'll do better, I promise..."_

_In one swift motion, Kenneth reached forward and grabbed the small 7-year-old by his arm, harshly pulling him out of the closet. Kendall fell to the floor with a thud, sobbing loudly, the panic now taking over completely._

_"You can do better than a C. What did I tell you would happen if you got anything lower than a B?" the older male questioned as he took the boy by the front of his shirt and lifted him off the ground quite easily._

_"T-That I w-would regret i-it..." the blond hiccuped, shaking uncontrollably from fear. "I-I-I'm so sorry!"_

_"Oh, you **will** be sorry," the older man snarled as he started to shake Kendall vigorously, proceeding to throw him on the bed. "Take off your shirt."_

_"N-No!" Kendall started hyperventilating—air didn't seem to fill his lungs. Everything seemed to be closing in on him. His words only made his father even more upset. He raised his hand and slapped Kendall's cheek, earning a scream from the little boy._

_"I said **take off your shirt**."_

_When Kendall made no move to do as he was being told, his father forced him out of it, then reaching for his own belt, which he raised in the air, ready to hit him with it._

_"Next time, you better fucking listen to me," he said through gritted teeth, before pulling his arm back and then forward, the belt making contact with the boy's skin. With each hit, Kendall curled up into a tinier ball, wishing he could just vanish and never be put through anything like this again._

_The pain eventually became so unbearable, that he felt like he was about to succumb into unconsciousness. Then..._

* * *

With a gasp, Kendall shot up in bed, doing his best to catch his breath. His chest moved up and down rapidly, everything around him caving in on him. Actual tears of fear and frustration welled up in his green eyes. He pulled at his hair, rocking back and forth on the mattress, his head between his knees.

His phone started to buzz all of a sudden, indicating that he had an incoming call. He grasped the small device with trembling fingers, trying to read who it was from through his tears. No number, no known name lit up on the screen—the only words present on the screen were 'Private Call.'

"H-Hello?" he answered, not knowing what to expect.

_"So nice to hear your voice again, Kendall. Did you miss me?"_

Kendall's breathing started to speed up once more, his whole body shaking uncontrollably from head to toe. In a frantic state of panic, he tossed the cell phone to the other side of the room, watching it crash against the wall and down to the floor.

"No no no no..."

The door to his bedroom all of a sudden flew open, making him jump in surprise.

"Kendall? Kendall, what's wrong?" He could hear James' voice calling his name, but he sounded distant. A feeling of dizziness overtook his body—nothing seemed to make sense anymore. He could barely breathe, much less respond to his friend's panicking voice.

"Logan, what's going on?" James asked frantically, turning to the smaller brunette.

Logan rushed to Kendall's side, not giving James an answer. "Kendall, can you hear me?" he questioned the younger teen, who seemed unfocused and like he was not completely there. "Kendall, it's Logan... Logan, Carlos, and James. Can you hear me, buddy? You're safe, Kendall. You're okay," he said in the most calming voice he could muster.

"H-He's everywhere," Kendall stuttered out, the tears continuing to spill from his eyes. "Make him go away, please..."

"Kendall, he's not here. What happened? Did you have a nightmare?" Logan questioned the emotionally drained teen, who nodded his head in response. "It was only a nightmare, Ken. He's not going to touch you again—"

"Um, guys," Carlos interrupted, his eyes on the phone that lay on the floor a few feet away. "Why's his phone on the floor?" He walked towards it and lifted it off the ground, to find that the screen was completely shattered. "Did you do this?" he asked, turning to Kendall, who nodded hesitantly.

"Why?" Logan asked, confusion clear in his voice.

"B-Because."

"Because? Because why?" This time it was James who walked forward and sat down on the edge of the bed, wrapping an arm around Kendall's shoulders. "What happened, Kendall?"

The blond blinked back incoming tears, his gaze turning to his lap. "H-He called. He somehow g-got my number and called."

James clenched his jaw, his hands forming into fists. "I'm going to kill him." He stood up, but was stopped by Carlos, who pushed him back down.

"You're not going anywhere. Hurting him isn't going to do anything, James."

"He deserves it, that fucking bastard. How dare he?"

"James..." It was Kendall's voice that made the brunette turn around and relax, even if only a bit. "Please don't. He'll hurt you... I don't want him to hurt you," Kendall said softly, gripping James' wrist in case he tried to go after his father.

"I won't," James said, his eyes locked with Kendall's, "but that doesn't change the fact that I want to rip his face off and feed it to a dog."

"Did you answer his call?" Logan asked, making Kendall turn in his direction. All eyes were on Kendall at that point.

"M-Maybe, but I didn't mean to. There was no name, no number. I didn't know it was him, until I answered the phone."

"What did he say?"

"He just said it was nice to hear from me again a-and asked if I missed him. T-That's when I threw my phone. I-I didn't want to listen to him."

"It'll be okay," James said, bringing Kendall close by wrapping his arm around his waist. "We'll find out how he got your number, okay? We'll get him out of here."

"How?"

"We'll find a way," the taller boy promised, rubbing a hand up and down Kendall's arm. "He'll soon be gone and away from you and everybody else here, you'll see."

"Please... Just make this nightmare end... I don't want to hear him, I don't want to s-see him. I can't..."

"Shh." James pulled away from Kendall as Logan wrapped his arms around the rambling teen, his head resting against Kendall's shoulder. "It'll be okay. We'll protect you. We will always protect you, just like you've always protected us."


	4. Chapter 4

"Hey buddy, you hungry?" Logan asked as he stood in the doorway of his and Kendall's bedroom. The dirty blond was sitting on his bed, hands resting on his lap and eyes cast down. The boys had all agreed to leave him alone for a couple of hours, after he had asked them for some time to himself, but it was now almost nine at night, and Logan was getting really worried.

"Hm?" Kendall looked up at the sound of Logan's voice, not having heard what the brunette had said, due to the thoughts that were clogging his mind at that moment.

"I asked if you were hungry. You haven't eaten all day, and there's some macaroni in the stove if you are."

"I'm not really hungry, Logie. You go ahead and eat."

"Kendall..." Logan sighed as he watched Kendall's gaze turn away from him and towards the window on the other side of the room. He made his way towards Kendall's bed and took a seat on the edge, his shoulder grazing the younger boy's. "You need to eat, you can't do this to yourself. I know this whole situation must be terrifying for you, but not eating and not taking care of yourself isn't going to help in any way."

"I can't eat when I'm this upset. I can't get him off my mind," Kendall said softly as he turned to Logan once more. "I'm just so tired. I never thought he would come back..." Without warning, he let his head rest against Logan's shoulder, tears threatening to spill from his eyes at any moment. "You have no idea how terrified I am of him. It was bad enough having him in my life once. Twice is too much."

Logan wrapped an arm around Kendall's shoulders, pulling him close. Closing his eyes, Kendall allowed the tears to fall, no longer caring if it felt like it was the umpteenth time he cried that day. "It'll be alright, you'll see."

"I don't know. Everyone keeps saying that, but I just don't know. Honestly, I don't even want to think about it. I just want to sleep and wake up to find that all of this was just some stupid nightmare. But it's not going to happen, so why bother?"

Logan sighed as he tangled his fingers in between Kendall's dirty blond hair. "This will soon be over, but until it is, I'm bringing you some food, and you need to eat it, okay?" Defeated and knowing that Logan wouldn't take "no" for an answer, the younger boy nodded as Logan slowly pulled away. "Good. I'll be right back."

Kendall watched him leave with a solemn look on his face. He appreciated how much the boys cared for him, but sometimes it just became too much. He was used to being independent, the leader, and the one who helped everybody else pull through when faced with tough situations. What he wasn't used to, was being treated in that same way. He wasn't used to being seen as someone who needed protection, or as being vulnerable, and he feared that that's how the boys would see him, if they didn't already.

"Here," Logan said, reappearing and handing Kendall a plate with macaroni and chicken strips on it. "Please at least try to eat most of it, okay?" Kendall nodded, but he made no move to eat any of it. Instead, he turned to Logan, frown on his face.

"Can I... Can I ask you a question?" he asked nervously. Seeing the nervous look on the boy's face, Logan nodded and took a seat in front of him, giving him a small smile as a sign to continue. "I was just wondering... Y-You don't think any less of me, right...? For breaking down, I mean. Because... I don't want you to, and I don't want James and Carlos to look at me differently either. I know it's stupid, but..."

"It's not stupid. We would never look at you differently or think any less of you. You're still Kendall. All of this... it doesn't change anything, and it certainly does not change who you are. So don't worry about that, alright?"

Kendall forced a small smile but didn't look up to meet Logan's eyes. "It's hard not to worry, you know. I shouldn't be hiding from... him. I'm sixteen, I'm not a kid anymore. I should be able to face my fears."

"Kendall... Whether you realize this or not, you are still young, and I know all of this is scary for you. Even if you were older, you would not be expected to face him after what he did to you. He physically and verbally abused you. That is not something that you can just brush off."

"He... He didn't just physically and verbally abuse me," Kendall said, turning to look out the window. "H-He, um..."

Logan's heart started beating faster, fearing what Kendall would say next.

Tears started to gather in Kendall's eyes once more, but he did his best to hold them back. He placed the plate Logan had given him on top of his nightstand, and then turned to Logan, unable to hold the tears back any longer. "H-He did things to me that I can't say, that I can't bring myself to say out loud. When I saw him in the lobby, I-I felt like everything had come crumbling down, and I couldn't breathe. Him coming back was what I feared the most, and now... it came true."

"Hey." Logan reached forward and pushed Kendall's chin up, so that they were looking eye to eye. "We're in this together, all of us. He might have hurt you, but that does not mean that you're alone in this," the brunette said softly.

"It feels like it."

"I know, but it's not true."

"I just don't know what to do. I feel so... helpless," the blond admitted. Logan pulled him into a hug, and that is when Kendall broke down completely, winding his arms around Logan's torso and clinging onto him for dear life.

"We stick together," Logan whispered. "We look out for each other and protect one another, because that is what brothers do. You know how you've mentioned before, that as long as we stick together, nothing can stop us?" Kendall only nodded into the crook of the brunette's neck, not trusting his voice. "Well, it's true. Together, we can do anything and everything. So don't give up, okay?"

"O-Okay."

Logan smiled and pulled away, taking the plate Kendall had left on his nightstand, into his hands. "I'm not going to make you eat, but if you don't eat right now, you have to promise me you'll eat in the morning."

"I promise," Kendall said in a quiet voice as he laid back down on the bed, watching as Logan left the room once more. When he returned, he headed towards his bed, but stopped when Kendall called his name.

"Would you mind... sleeping with me tonight?" he asked, his cheeks turning a rosy pink. Logan smiled and made his way to Kendall's bedside.

"Of course not," he said, pulling back the covers and lying down. Smiling, Kendall curled up next to him, his head just beneath Logan's chin. "Goodnight, buddy," the older boy whispered as he wrapped an arm around the taller boy. "I love you."

"I love you too," Kendall whispered, his eyes drifting shut.


	5. Chapter 5

"So, how do you think he got Kendall's number?"

It was just a few minutes past eight in the morning. Logan had awoken to find Kendall still sleeping soundly by his side, so he'd quietly slipped out of the room and made his way towards the kitchen, where he found that James was already awake, making a pot of coffee.

"I have no idea," the brunette said in a tired voice. He watched the coffee pot for a few seconds and then turned towards Logan and took a seat beside him on one of the bar stools, letting his head fall into his hands. "Maybe someone gave it to him? Maybe Bitters did? I don't know, Logan."

"Well, if someone did give it to him, I think we should find out who it is. It's not right. Kendall's so afraid... You should have seen him last night," Logan practically whispered, afraid that the dirty blond would somehow hear him.

"What do you mean?" James asked him, not having known what had happened the night before. He raised his head and looked at Logan, his eyes curious, yet at the same time filled with worry.

Logan sighed as he thought back to the events of the night before. "He was... different."

James frowned. "You're going to have to be a little bit more specific, because I'm not really sure what you mean by that."

"He just wasn't Kendall," Logan said quietly. "He just... reminded me so much of how he used to act back when he was younger and his idiot of a father was around. He's so scared of him. I know he was hurt a lot by what happened, but... I feel like there's something he isn't telling us."

"Something like what?"

Logan looked up at James, biting his lip nervously. He looked down at his hands and refused to make eye contact with him as he let the next few words slip from his lips. "Well... we were talking, and... h-he mentioned that his father didn't just physically and verbally abuse him," he said, facing James to see his reaction, but the younger boy seemed confused by his words.

"Meaning?"

"Meaning he might've, um... you know."

Logan's eyes filled with unshed tears as James' expression changed from one of confusion to one of shock. "Wait... You think his dad...? But... no."

"He implied it," Logan whispered. "I didn't want to question him any further, because I didn't want to upset him any more than he already was. But if he did do what I think he did, then he got away way too easily. Even if he didn't, he still deserved a lot more jail time. I don't know what he's doing out of jail. None of this makes any sense."

"You don't know how tempted I am to walk up to his apartment and beat the living daylights out of him," James said, his eyes filling with anger and sadness. "How could he hurt him like that? How could he beat him up, verbally abuse him, emotionally scar him, and do who-knows-what else to him, and expect Kendall to want anything to do with him again?"

"Because maybe I deserved it..."

Logan and James both turned around to face Kendall, who was standing just a few feet away.

"Kendall..." James stood up from his seat, Logan following closely behind him. Kendall looked away, his green eyes diverting to the floor as James hesitantly wrapped his arms around him and brought him close. "You did nothing to deserve any of this. None of this is your fault."

Logan watched as Kendall awkwardly wrapped his arms around James' torso, burying his face against the older boy's shoulder. His eyes were sad, dull, and scared, and Logan hated it. He wished that he could take Kendall's pain away more than anything.

"Then why did he do it?" Kendall mumbled. "Why did h-he hurt me if I didn't deserve it? I must've done something..."

Logan stepped forward and wrapped his arms around the two younger boys, his eyes filling with worry. Kendall looked absolutely heartbroken and lost.

"Because your dad doesn't care who he hurts. No parent should ever hurt their own children in the way that your dad hurt you. But just because he did, it does not make it your fault. He is the one to blame for his actions—never has it been you."

Kendall closed his eyes, a soft sigh slipping past his lips as he pulled away from his two best friends and moved to sit on the neon orange couch in the living room. "That's what I want to believe," he said quietly. "Maybe deep down I know I never asked for any of this, but when I was little, he'd... repeatedly tell me it was my fault. So, it's kind of hard to forget that."

James sent one last glance in Kendall's direction before going to turn off the coffee pot. Logan, in the other hand, took a seat beside the blond and took a hold of his hand, giving it a gentle squeeze.

"It's gonna be okay," Logan said softly. Kendall only managed a nod in response.

"Morning guys." Before anyone could even respond, Carlos had plopped himself down on the couch, his legs positioned where his back was supposed to be, while his head hung over the edge. He frowned when he took notice of the saddened expression that both Kendall and Logan had on their faces. "Did I miss something?" he asked, watching Kendall for a few seconds, and then turning in Logan's direction. "Logan?"

"No, Litos, you didn't. We were just talking. We should probably make breakfast." Before Carlos could question him any further, Logan stood up and made his way towards the kitchen. "What do you guys want for breakfast?"

Carlos shrugged. "Anything's good with me."

Logan then turned to Kendall. "Ken, what do you want to eat?" The taller boy's only response was a shrug of his shoulders. Logan sighed as he turned to James. "James?"

"I don't know," James said as he stirred his coffee and then placed it on the counter. "Scrambled eggs, bacon and toast?" he suggested.

"That okay with you two?" Logan asked, turning to Carlos and Kendall. The two boys nodded in response.

Doing his best to ignore the feeling of exhaustion that threatened to knock him over at any minute, Logan started making breakfast. He could feel James' eyes burning into the side of his skull as he stood in front of the stove. He was going to question him, when James walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, are you okay? No offense, but you don't look so good."

"I'm fine."

"Logan..."

Logan sighed as he finally looked up at James. "Can we talk about this later, please?" he whispered, watching Kendall and Carlos from the corner of his eye. The two boys were talking—well, mostly Carlos was talking. He couldn't help but smile a little as a smile appeared on Kendall's face when Carlos leaned over and whispered something in his ear.

James looked hesitant to drop the subject, but one look at Logan's eyes, and he decided to let it go for the time being. "Alright, but we're talking about it later, okay?"

Logan gave him a slight nod as he turned to grab some plates. "Okay."

* * *

"Um, so I think I'm going to go down to the lobby and see if I can find out who gave that bastard Kendall's number," James whispered to Logan once they had finished eating. "Do you wanna come along?"

"Yeah, I don't want you going by yourself, knowing he's around... It doesn't seem safe." Logan said before going over to Carlos, who was surfing the channels with Kendall by his side. "Guys, James and I will be right back."

"Where are you going?" Kendall asked suspiciously.

Logan turned back to James, who gave him a silent nod. "We just need to figure out how your dad got your number, that's all."

"Guys... no. I don't want you going out there alone," the blond said, his protective side coming out. "I'll go with you."

"You are not going anywhere. You are staying here with Carlos," James said as he approached the group and pushed Kendall back into the couch. "We'll be fine, we'll be careful. Plus, we'll have our cellphones with us just in case."

"You promise to call if anything happens?" Kendall asked, his eyes filling with worry for his two best friends. He might have been afraid of his father, but he cared way more about his friends than he did about himself. If putting his safety at risk was what it took to keep them safe, then he'd do it in a heartbeat.

"We promise," Logan said reassuringly.

Kendall could only watch as the two boys walked out of the apartment, but he couldn't stop the feeling of panic and concern that seemed to completely take over him.

He had a really bad feeling about this.


	6. Chapter 6

"Everything will be okay, buddy, I promise," Carlos said reassuringly, draping an arm around Kendall's shoulders and pulling him closer against his side. The dirty blond let out a small sigh and let his head fall onto the smaller boy's shoulder, taking comfort in the warmth and reassurance his older friend provided.

"I really hope you're right. I just don't like knowing they're out there, where he could get them at any second," he said quietly, his eyes shifting to the wooden floor. He let his eyes close shut, attempting to take his mind off of the thoughts that traveled around his head at a frantic pace.

"I know. I don't like it either, but I don't think he'll do anything to them. They'll be back soon, you'll see. But... while they're gone, how about we try to take your mind off things?" Carlos suggested as he jumped up and pulled Kendall to his feet.

Kendall rolled his eyes at his best friend, doubting he'd be able to get his mind off the situation. Then again, it was Carlos, and if Carlos was known for anything, it was for being able to cheer people up even when they were at their worst. "And, how do we do that?"

"By baking, duh!"

Kendall opened his mouth to object, but before he could even get a word out, Carlos took ahold of his wrist and pulled him towards the kitchen. "Carlos, I don't see how baking is going to take my mind off things," he said as he was pushed to sit on a barstool. He watched as the shorter boy rummaged through the fridge and practically took out almost everything there was inside it. "Also, I don't think you need all of that..."

"You can never tell," Carlos said with a grin.

Kendall placed his elbow on the counter and leaned the side of his head against the palm of his hand as he continued to watch Carlos excitedly separate everything he had placed atop of it. He was still unsure of what he had planned, and he doubted that the boy's plan would work, but he was willing to give Carlos' idea a chance. He wasn't going to just reject the boy's attempts of cheering him up—it would break Carlos' heart for sure and make him feel utterly useless.

"Cookies, cake, or pie?"

Kendall furrowed his eyebrows at Carlos' question. "Huh?"

"What should we make, cookies, cake, or a pie?"

"Uh..."

"Or maybe we could make homemade corn dogs..." Kendall raised an eyebrow at the smaller boy, who seemed to be deep in thought. "What? You can never have too many corn dogs."

Kendall couldn't help but smile at Carlos' words. "You mean _you_ can never have too many corn dogs."

"That's what I said!"

"No, it's not..."

"Wait, so can we?"

Kendall smiled, reached forward, and ruffled Carlos' black tufts of hair. "Maybe some other time, buddy. You've had corn dogs pretty much every day this week. How about we make cookies instead?"

Carlos pouted, but it didn't take long for a smile to come to his face. "Sure! But can we make chocolate chip?"

"Chocolate chip it is."

"Yay!" The smaller boy frantically started picking out the ingredients they would need and pushed the ones they wouldn't need to the side. He then turned to Kendall, who hadn't moved an inch. "Come on, you need to help me. It's not fun making cookies on my own... Plus, if you don't, I'll end up eating the cookie dough."

"Or end up burning the apartment down," Kendall muttered under his breath.

"What?"

Kendall smiled. "Oh nothing, Los, nothing at all."

* * *

"So, are you gonna tell me what's bothering you now?" James asked as he and Logan walked away from the apartment and towards the elevator. He watched Logan's expression, which turned from one of deep thought, to one filled with nervousness. "You can talk to me, you know."

"I know," Logan mumbled. Knowing there was no way that James would let this slip, he pulled the taller brunet into a corner of the hallway, his eyes looking around frantically to make sure no one was nearby. He didn't need anybody eavesdropping on them. "I just didn't get much sleep last night... I was too worried to sleep. Seeing Kendall break down the way he did... broke my heart. I just can't believe he's blaming himself for what his good-for-nothing father did to him. I don't see why he'd blame himself for any of it, but knowing his dad, he must've somehow made him believe that."

"Want to know what I think?" James asked, and Logan nodded in response. "I think, that aside from what his father might've done and said to him, he's blaming himself for something else."

"Something else like what?"

"Well, Kendall's dad was taken to jail because of what he did to Kendall, so... because of that, both Kendall and Katie were left fatherless, I guess you could say, and Mrs. Knight had to look after the two of them on her own, which must have been difficult for her."

"But that's not Kendall's fault," Logan said in a soft tone, sadness consuming him at the thought of Kendall blaming himself for something like that.

"No, of course it isn't, and it never has been. The only one to blame in this whole mess is his dad, but you know Kendall. When something doesn't go right, or when somebody he loves gets hurt, he tends to beat himself up, even if it isn't his fault."

"I know... I just hate knowing that he thinks that he deserved everything his father did," Logan explained. "If something happens to him—if he gets hurt again, I don't know what I'll do."

"Neither do I," James admitted, his voice feeling like it might break. "I promised him the first time this happened that I'd never let that man hurt him again. I'm scared I won't be able to keep that promise..."

"James..." Logan frowned as he wrapped his arms around the taller teen and rested his head against his shoulder. "You won't. We won't let anything happen to him. He's going to be okay. Everything will be alright."

"I know. I just hate this... all of it."

"I do, too."

Hesitantly, James pulled away from Logan's hold and turned to stare at the wall, forcing back the tears that had gathered in his eyes. "I guess we better figure out how to stop this. One way or another."

Logan only nodded, and the two continued to make their way towards the elevator, hoping they would be able to put a stop to this whole mess soon.

* * *

"I'm not hungry, Carlos."

Kendall stared at the plate piled high with cookies that Carlos had placed in front of him. For a while, his mood had somewhat gotten better, but now that he wasn't as distracted as before, he couldn't help but let his mind wander to James and Logan, and especially his dad.

Carlos frowned but took a seat in front of the dirty blond, his expression turning serious. "It's okay, you don't have to eat them. I just thought it would help cheer you up a bit."

"It did," Kendall said as he forced a smile for Carlos' sake, but it soon vanished. "It did help. I just... I have this feeling."

"What do you mean?" Carlos asked quietly, his brown eyes filling with concern.

"I don't know, just this feeling... Like something bad's going to happen. I'm probably just overthinking and letting it get to me, but... I don't know."

Carlos was going to respond, but the sound of the door swinging open made the two boys jump and turn their attention to the entrance of the apartment.

The sight that they were met with caused their hearts to drop and left them momentarily frozen in their spots.

"James!"


	7. Chapter 7

"Do you think we should split up? Maybe ask around a few people, and see if they know anything?" James asked as the two boys exited the elevator.

Logan stopped walking and turned to the taller brunet, a frown present on his face. "Maybe," he said, seeming hesitant. "I mean, we could try it. Maybe by doing so we'll find out something sooner. It's just..."

"Just what?" James inquired, raising an eyebrow in a questioning manner.

"I don't know. I don't like the idea of splitting up. What if he finds one of us. What if—"

"Logan," James said, cutting him off before he could ramble on any further, "it'll be fine. I don't think he'd do anything to us, not here. We have our phones in case anything were to go wrong."

The older boy still looked hesitant and worried, but he nodded in response and gave James a small smile. "Yeah, you're probably right... But please, if anything happens, call me. I'm being serious, James," he warned, all traces of a smile having vanished in an instant.

"I will," James promised. "You too."

Logan smiled and held up his phone. "Will do."

With that being said, the two boys went off in different directions—Logan running up to Mr. Bitters' desk to see if he had given Kendall's father any kind of information, such as Kendall's phone number, and James went off to the pool to see if he could question a few people. He hoped someone knew something. After all, the boys were pretty well-known in the Palm Woods, so figuring out who had given Mr. Knight the younger boy's number wouldn't be as easy as he hoped it would be.

First he asked the Jennifers, followed by Guitar Dude, and then Tyler, but none of them knew anything about the older Knight. He continued asking people around, growing annoyed with each person that didn't know anything.

Sighing, the brunet sat down on one of the pool chairs, fingers buried in between strands of chocolate brown locks as he stared straight ahead, wondering if there was anyone who would disclose that kind of information to a total stranger. And that's when it hit him.

 _Jett_.

Bolting out of the pool area, James ran back into the hotel and rushed to get to the elevator. As soon as the elevator doors opened, he pressed the button for the second floor and impatiently waited for the elevator to ascend towards it and for the doors to open up.

Once he got to Jett's apartment, he started knocking on the door frantically, only to receive no response. James sighed as he leaned against the wooden door, letting his eyes close for only a moment.

"Well, look who we have here."

James jumped, startled by the voice that had suddenly appeared. He opened his eyes in an instant, being met by the sight of Kendall's father standing in front of him. The older man had a smirk plastered on his face—whatever it was that he was up to, James could tell it wasn't good.

"Don't act so surprised, I just want to talk."

"Talk about what?" James spat, his anger getting the best of him. "I have nothing to say to you, except to stay away from Kendall. He doesn't want you around. Why the hell are you even here? Unless you haven't realized this by now, he's terrified of you."

"I'm just here to make amends," the older man said, feigning a hurt expression.

"Amends?" James asked in disbelief, anger boiling in his veins. He stepped forward, fighting the urge to punch Mr. Knight in the face right then and there. "What you did to him can not be taken back. You broke him. You fucking broke him, and you want to make amends? You're lucky I haven't called the police on you yet. We should have done that since the very start!"

Before James could comprehend what was happening, he felt a hand squeezing his neck as he was pushed towards the wall. Black dots danced around in his vision after seconds ticked by and he was unable to remove the man's strong grip from his neck. He gasped for air, feeling like he was about to pass out.

"I will not hesitate to hurt you, him, or Logan and Carlos. If you call the police on me, I will hurt him. I will break him again and make his life, along with yours, a living hell."

Glaring at the younger boy, Kendall's father pulled his arm back and hit James on the side of the head. Too in shock to do anything about it, James didn't have the chance to react as a fist connected once again with his face. He then felt the air being sucked from his lungs as he was kneed in the stomach, causing the brunet to drop to a heap on the floor.

"You say one word to the cops, _one word_ , and that boy is dead," Mr. Knight threatened as he walked away, leaving James gasping for air.

It took James a couple of minutes to regain his composure, but when he did, he carefully sat up, still leaning against the wall, and dialed Logan's number. It only rang once before Logan answered the call.

" _James? Did you find out anything?_ "

"L-Logan," James whimpered, tears blurring his vision. "Logan, please come."

" _What? James, are you okay...? You don't sound okay..._ "

"I'm in the s-second floor, near Jett's apartment. Please hurry."

* * *

Logan was talking to Camille when he got James' call. As soon as James spoke, he immediately realized that something was wrong. The younger boy sounded scared and hurt—he didn't sound like himself in the slightest.

"Camille, I gotta go. Something's up with James. If you find out anything, please let me know," he said as he quickly kissed her cheek and fled from where they stood in the lobby, not even waiting for her to respond.

Logan didn't bother taking the elevator, knowing he'd reach the second floor faster if he raced up the stairs. He didn't know what to expect when he got there, but he sure wasn't expecting to find James sitting on the floor, his face buried in his hands, sobs uncontrollably making him tremble.

"James? James, what happened?" the smaller brunet questioned as he kneeled down in front of his best friend. He took ahold of James' wrists and pulled the boy's hands away from his face, then cupping his face with one hand so he could look him in the eye.

"Oh my God, what happened? Who did this?" he asked, his eyes landing on James' eye, which had turned a purplish-black. The side of his face looked slightly bruised, as if someone had hit him.

"H-He did," James hiccuped. "He said... He said that if we called the cops he'd kill Kendall. L-Logan, what are we going to do?" James asked, tears still freely falling down his cheeks.

Logan, being angry, worried and afraid all at once, pulled James into a hug. "We'll figure that out once we get to the apartment. Come on, we need to go," he said as he pulled James up, earning a groan from the taller boy. "It'll be okay. We'll figure this out. But first we need to get you cleaned up."

James nodded wordlessly, allowing Logan to support part of his weight as they got on the elevator for the third floor.


	8. Chapter 8

As the boys exited the elevator and arrived at the door of Apartment 2J, the only thing in James' mind was what Kendall's father had told him. If he called the police, he would hurt Kendall, or even worse, _kill him_. He wanted to believe that what the man had said was just his way of trying to scare him, but knowing what he had done to Kendall in the past, James knew what he was capable of.

"It'll be okay," Logan said right before they walked in.

But as they walked in through the door, James immediately felt eyes on him as both Kendall and Carlos shouted his name in unison and rushed to his side.

"James, what happened to you?!" Carlos questioned, causing James to groan in response. He really didn't want to talk about it, much less in front of Kendall, who looked like he was about to pass out. The color had drained from his face, and he looked both worried and angry as he saw the bruises on James' face.

When he didn't respond, Kendall got closer to him and lifted his chin with his hand in order to get a better look at the damage that had been done. James had one black eye, a bruise on his right cheek, and his lip was bleeding. "He did this to you... didn't he?" he asked quietly.

Knowing he couldn't lie to Kendall, the brunet gave a silent nod. "I'll be fine. Please don't blame yourself," he said, knowing Kendall well enough to know that he most likely would.

"It's not fine! None of this is fine!" The blond backed away from the others, his heart rate and breathing picking up as he tried not to panic. "He hurt you! H-He hurt you, and I couldn't do a thing about it! How could I have let this happen? You should've never left the apartment! I shouldn't have let you! Now you're hurt because of me. This is all my f-fault..."

"Kendall, you need to calm dow—"

"How do you expect me to calm down?!" Kendall yelled, slapping Logan's hand away as the brunet tried to reach out for him.

"Kendall, please... none of this is your fault. _None_ of it." James neared the younger boy and took ahold of his shoulders despite his struggling. "You need to sit down and try to calm down. I'm fine, okay? I'm okay," he said as he pushed Kendall to sit down on the couch. He took a seat beside him and pulled Kendall close.

"Please stop saying that... You're not okay. Nothing's okay. Nothing's ever gonna be okay as long as he's here. I-I'm such a horrible f-friend. I c-couldn't even help you, and now you're hurt. I'm s-sorry, James."

James sighed, knowing this would happen. "Kendall, no. This isn't your fault. Yes, he hurt me, but I'd rather have him hurt me than you. And you couldn't have known he'd do it. I didn't even see it coming, so no, it's not your fault. I'm gonna be okay, alright? I'm gonna be fine, I promise." He frowned, pulling the boy closer and resting his head on top of shaggy blond hair. "And you're gonna be okay, and everyone's gonna be okay."

Kendall closed his eyes, trying to focus on his breathing, which had sped up in the past few minutes. He hated this – hated how the roles seemed to be reversed now. He was usually the one that was there for the other boys whenever they were hurt or upset, and now he couldn't even do that right. He was completely taken over by fear – fear that his father would come barging through the door, that he'd have to face him, that he'd hurt someone he really cared about. And now, one of those fears had come true, and there was nothing he could do about it.

He felt absolutely helpless.

* * *

"Hey, what are you doing up?" James asked as he walked into the living room, only to find Kendall sitting on the couch.

The blond shrugged in response and rubbed a hand over his eyes, trying to hide the fact that he had been crying for the past half hour. "Couldn't sleep, I guess... Too much on my mind."

Frowning, James lifted Kendall's legs and sat down, placing them on his lap. "Wanna talk about it?"

"I wouldn't even know where to start."

"Then start wherever, I've got plenty of time."

"Do you think I'm being stupid?"

"No, of course not. Why would you be stupid?"

Kendall sighed and looked down, not meeting James' eyes. Not that it would make much of a difference if he did, since the living room was for the most part surrounded by darkness. "Me, being so afraid of my d-dad. Sometimes I feel like I should be over it, like I shouldn't let it bother me anymore, but I don't know how to _not_ let it bother me. Even before he came back, I had never really gotten over it. I don't think I ever will..."

"You know, sometimes people hurt us, whether it be emotionally or physically. And it's not easy to get over that. It's not easy to let it go, or to forgive them, or trust those who have wronged you, especially when they don't give you a reason to. So, no, I don't think you're stupid at all. And I think that after all the things he put you through, it's normal for you to be afraid of him. It's _okay_ to be scared, and it's okay to not be okay all the time. It's okay to need others, and I'm telling you this, because I know that you don't find it easy to let us in."

"I feel awful, though," Kendall said quietly, finally looking up at James, tears streaming down his face. "I'm so sorry you got hurt."

"Come here, will you?" James said as he stretched his arms out and waited for Kendall to scoot closer to him. Reluctantly, the younger boy did as he was told, and James wrapped his arms around him, pressing a kiss to the side of his head. "I don't care, okay?"

"But I do—"

"I know, Ken, but you don't have to be sorry. I'm okay, really."

"I know. It's just..."

"It's just what?"

"I feel so useless right now. I don't like not being able to help, I don't like worrying you guys. I hate it."

"Okay, first of all, you are not useless. And second, you're my little brother, I'm always going to worry about you, whether you like it or not."

"I know... thank you."

"You don't have to thank me. That's what I'm here for."

* * *

As soon as James walked out of their bedroom, Carlos grabbed his phone from his nightstand and quietly made his way to the bathroom, careful not to make any noise. He closed the door shut behind him and searched through his contacts, until he found the one he was looking for.

"Hey, it's me. I... I need your help."


	9. Chapter 9

"Hey, it's me. I... I need your help."

After having seen the injuries Kendall's dad had caused James, Carlos knew that he couldn't just stand there and let him get away with it. He had to do something about it, or else he or one of the others boys would get hurt, and that is the last thing he wanted to happen. So instead of waiting around for something else to happen, he decided to call his dad, even though he knew the other boys would probably get mad at him afterwards. James had mentioned to him and Logan that Kendall's father had threatened him with hurting or even killing Kendall if they were to go to the police, so they were all very hesitant on calling the authorities. But Carlos knew that his father would never allow anything to happen to Kendall – the dirty blond was practically his brother, bound not by blood, but by a much stronger connection: love. Kendall and the other boys meant the world to him, so there was no way he'd allow the older Knight to lay a hand on any of them.

It wouldn't happen, not if he could help it.

Once his father had promised to get a plane ticket to Los Angeles as soon as he could, Carlos hung up the phone and placed it back on his nightstand. He carefully and quietly crawled back into bed and turned over, so that he was lying on his left side, facing the window. Through the slightly opened curtains, he could make out the moon that seemed to glow in the night sky.

He let out a soft sigh and curled in on himself, wishing that Kendall's dad had never made a reappearance. He was dangerous and untrustworthy – if anything, the fear in Kendall's eyes whenever he was mentioned, was a clear indication of that. Not to mention the horrible things he had done to the younger boy when he was just a kid. Carlos only knew bits and pieces, he had seen some of the evidence back then, and knew how emotionally scarred Kendall had been left after what had happened. But unlike Kendall, nobody else knew just how bad things had been. Nobody _really_ knew what the dirty blond had to endure, or how many years he had to put up with it, until the boys found out when they were in sixth grade.

* * *

_"Kendall, what happened to your face? It's all bruised," Logan commented as he reached forward and gently rubbed the pad of his thumb against Kendall's cheek, which was indeed a blackish-purple._

_"Oh, I umm... Katie and I were playing with a baseball, and she kinda threw it too hard and hit me in the face," Kendall lied. He quietly chuckled, or feigned to do so, and gave the boys a small smile. "She's a lot stronger than she looks."_

_"It seems like it," James commented, to which Carlos nodded, but Logan seemed unconvinced and concerned._

_"That looks really painful. Does it hurt?"_

_"Only a little, it's no big deal," he said in the most reassuring voice that he could muster. The bell rang, signaling the beginning of first period, which for once, Kendall was grateful for, since he was not in the mood to lie anymore. "Well, I better get to class. See you guys at lunch."_

_"See ya," they all said in unison, as they headed their separate ways, aside from Carlos and Logan, who had first period together._

_The two boys entered their science class and took a seat in their usual spots beside each other. Carlos, having noticed Logan's change in mood, tapped his shoulder, succeeding in earning his attention._

_"Is everything okay?" the smaller boy whispered._

_Logan just stared at him and shrugged his shoulders._ _"Kendall seems to be having a lot of accidents lately," he said quietly._

_"What do you mean?" Carlos asked, clearly puzzled by the boy's words._

_"I mean, I think there's something he's not telling us."_

_Carlos frowned at Logan's response and shifted his eyes to the front of the classroom, where their teacher was now standing. His focus returned to Logan in a matter of a second, though. "Something like what?"_

_"Something like, maybe he's getting bullied."_

_The older boy shook his head. "No way. This is Kendall we're talking about. How many times has he fought off bullies for us? Plus, I'm sure he wouldn't lie to us, especially about something like that."_

_"Seeing us hurt brings out his protective side, so it wouldn't be the same."_

_"You're just worrying too much. I'm sure he's fine."_

_Sighing, Logan nodded and turned to the front of the classroom, his eyes no longer on the shorter boy. "I hope so," he whispered, but it was too low for Carlos to hear._

* * *

Carlos wished he had listened to Logan then, because what happened just a couple of months later, shocked them all.

* * *

_"Hey guys, have any of you seen Kendall?" James asked as he approached both Logan and Carlos, who were busy putting stuff away in their lockers. It was just before lunch, and the brunet was worried, because Kendall had never showed up to third period._

_"No, I haven't seen him. Didn't you have last period with him?" Logan asked, receiving a nod from James._

_"I do, but he wasn't there, and I haven't seen him around today."_

_"I haven't seen him either," Carlos said quietly. "Maybe he's sick and stayed home."_

_"Maybe..." Logan mumbled, but he had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. "Have you tried texting him?" he asked James._

_"Yup, but he hasn't answered yet."_

_Logan nodded and turned to Carlos, then back to James. "Maybe we should go to his house after school, just to make sure he's okay? His mom's out of town for the week and his dad's at work, so he must be alone... Plus, he can't pick up Katie from school if he's sick, and knowing him, if he is, he'll still do it."_

_"Yeah, we should," Carlos said as he closed his locker door shut and locked it, "and maybe one of us can go pick up Katie while we're at it."_

_"I'll go," James said with a smile. "Now, come on. The lunch line is going to be huge by the time we get there."_

_"He hasn't answered my texts. He would've by now..." James said quietly as the three boys exited the school building._

_"We tried texting him, too, and nothing." Logan sighed, locked his phone, and stuffed it back into his pocket. "I'm getting worried." Noticing how quiet Carlos had been all day, Logan turned towards him and laid a hand on his shoulder. "You're being awfully quiet today."_

_Carlos looked at him, tried to smile, but the tears in his eyes betrayed him. "What if... What if something did happen to him...?"_

_"We'll know in a few minutes," Logan said, hoping that Kendall would be alright. "James, go get Katie. We'll text you when we find out something, if you haven't gotten there by then."_

_James nodded and turned to leave, his feet scraping against the concrete below._

_Wrapping an arm around Carlos' shoulders in an attempt to comfort him, Logan led them in the other direction._

_It didn't take them very long to reach Kendall's house, but when they did get there and knocked on the door, they received no response. The house was completely silent._

_"Let's climb the tree," Carlos said, referring to the tree by Kendall's window that they sometimes used to climb inside._

_"Okay."_

_Carlos climbed it first, followed closely by Logan. When they reached the window, they both carefully lifted it open and climbed into Kendall's bedroom, only to find it empty, with Kendall nowhere in sight._

_Quietly, Logan shut the window and followed Carlos, who was already opening the bedroom door to search the rest of the house._

_"Kendall...?" Carlos called timidly, but received no answer. "Logan, where is he?"_

_"I don't know..." Logan tried to remain optimistic, but the anxiety and fear building up in his chest seemed to suffocate him. As Carlos searched the rest of the house, Logan walked back into Kendall's room. That's when he noticed Kendall's cellphone sitting on his bed. Kendall never went anywhere without it._

_His fear only increased when he noticed a stain on the carpeted floor. Kneeling down to get a closer look at it, he realized what it was, and that's when his heart felt like it had stopped beating._

_The sound of knocks against the front door forced him out of the shock. It was with wobbly legs that he walked out of the room and into the living room, where Carlos, James and Katie were standing._

_"Katie doesn't know anything either," James said softly. "She said he dropped her off at school this morning, and then headed to school, but we never saw him..."_

_"Carlos, why don't you fix Katie a snack real quick?" Logan said in a monotone voice. Carlos gave him a puzzled look, but took ahold of Katie's hand and led her to the kitchen._

_"What's going on?" James whispered._

_Logan turned back towards the kitchen, making sure Carlos and Katie wouldn't be able to hear what he was about to say, and then let out a shuddery breath, tears pooling in his eyes. "There's blood stains in his room..."_

_James seemed to freeze in his spot. "W-What?"_

_"I don't know, but I have a horrible feeling about this. Maybe we should go to Carlos' house and talk to his dad, he'd know what to do."_

_"I think we should. If he's not answering our calls, isn't here, and there's blood on the floor, then something definitely isn't right."_

_Logan could only nod in response._

_"Carlos, Katie?" Having heard James' call, Carlos walked back into the living room, with Katie close in his heels. "We gotta go."_

_"Where to?" Katie asked. "Where's Kendy? I want Kendall."_

_"Kendall's, umm... We're going to Carlos' house."_

_"My house...?"_

_"Yes, your house, now let's go."_

_Before either of the two could question them any further, James pulled Carlos by the wrist towards the door. Logan took ahold of Katie's hand and followed close behind._

_"Logie?"_

_Logan looked down, meeting Katie's brown eyes. "Yeah?"_

_"Where's Kendall?"_

_"You'll see Kendall soon."_

_"Promise?" she asked as she brought her pinky finger up in the air. If Logan wasn't so worried, he would have smiled at the sight._

_Logan hesitantly nodded in response and wrapped his pinky finger around Katie's. "Yeah, I promise."_


	10. Chapter 10

_"Okay boys, can you tell me what is going on?" Carlos' dad asked as he shut the front door behind him. They had left Katie with Carlos' mom and had headed outside, to make sure that the little girl wouldn't hear what they had to say._

_"Kendall is missing," Logan said, his eyes locked on the ground. "He was never at school, at least, not that we know of. Katie said he took her to class, and was supposed to head to school after that, but we never saw him. Carlos and I went to his house to look for him, while James went to pick up Katie, but he wasn't there."_

_"I tried texting him, but he never responded, which is why we all thought that going to check up on him would be a good idea," James said softly, his eyes filled with worry._

_"Actually, his phone was on his bed," Logan said quietly, "and, there was... there was blood on the floor."_

_"Blood?" Carlos' dad asked, raising an eyebrow. "There was blood on the floor?"_

_Logan nodded slowly. "Carlos had left to search the rest of the house, but I decided to check his room again, just in case I had missed something that might give us a clue to where he was. That's when I noticed the blood stains on the floor."_

_"Were they there before?"_

_Logan shook his head. "I'm pretty sure we had never seen them before. They're kind of easy to spot, so no, I don't think so."_

_"Boys?"_

_James shook his head, while Carlos remained where he stood, frozen in his spot._

_"Carlos, mijo, had you ever seen them?"_

_"No," he practically whispered. His eyes were noticeably filling with tears, and he looked like he might lose his balance at any second. "Papi, where's Kendall?" he mumbled out._

_"I don't know, but we'll find him, I promise," he said reassuringly as he placed a hand on his son's shoulder. "Do you boys know any other information that might help us find him?" he asked, turning his attention from one boy to the other._

_"Not really," Logan said. "We don't know where he could be."_

_"Where are his parents?" he asked as he reached into his pocket and took out his phone._

_"His mom's out of town, visiting some relatives, I think, and his dad's at work."_

_The older man only hummed in response, his eyes locked on the phone's screen as he searched through his contacts. "I'm calling his mom first, and then I'll try his dad."_

_The three boys watched as he walked away to talk on the phone, their worry only increasing with each passing minute. When he walked back, Carlos' dad had an upset look on his face._

_"Mrs. Knight doesn't know where he is, and his dad didn't answer my call. We're gonna head over to Kendall's house and see if there's anything that we can find that'll lead us to where he might be. You boys might've missed something."_

_It was without hesitation that all three boys jumped into Officer Garcia's old truck and headed in the direction of the Knights' house. Once there, they all began searching Kendall's room, trying to spot something that might be out of place, or anything that would indicate where the younger boy was. However, Carlos' dad already had his suspicions, but he didn't want to tell the boys what he really thought, before he was sure of it himself._

_"Alright, since we have no idea where he is, I think we should search around town. I'm going to call the station and ask for help. You boys can tag along with me if you'd like, but let your parents know where you are, so they won't be too worried."_

* * *

_That night was a blur for all of them. They searched for close to two hours and a half before they came across the blond boy, but it wasn't in the way that they had hoped for._

* * *

_"Wait, stop!"_

_Carlos' dad was forced to hit the breaks as James' scream cut through the air. "What happened?"_

_"I think I saw something a few feet back," he said as he opened his door and got out. It was pretty dark outside by then, so it was hard to make anything out in the darkness, and the only light they had was the one that came from a small flashlight the brunet was carrying._

_"Oh my God... Kendall!" Tears came to James' eyes as he knelt down beside a body that was lying on the dirty ground. As he shined the light on the boy's face, he realized that it was in fact his best friend that he was looking at, except he looked almost unrecognizable. Cuts and bruises littered his face – there was blood everywhere, and for a moment, James was afraid that they were too late and that he was already dead._

_"D-Don't touch him," Logan stuttered out as he kneeled down beside James and inspected his younger friend, who looked lifeless. "If he's seriously hurt, you could hurt him even more."_

_"_ _**If?** _ _" James questioned, bitterness in his tone. "Of course he's seriously hurt! What if he's dead?! Oh God, he can't be..."_

_Before Officer Garcia had even reached the boys, he was already dialing an ambulance. "Logan's right, don't touch him," he said to James, who looked absolutely heartbroken. All three boys' faces were smeared with tears at the sight of their best friend._

_"Is he going to d-die?" Carlos asked as he looked up at his father, unable to stop the river of tears that continued to roll down his cheeks._

_"He's alive," he said as he checked Kendall's pulse. "He's not going to die. The doctors will do everything they can to make sure that he makes it out alive, I promise."_

* * *

_Once the ambulance had arrived, and then left and headed towards the hospital, the boys and Officer Garcia followed close behind. It took hours for them to get any news on the boy, and it took even longer for them to be able to see him, but when they did, they all walked in one by one. Mrs. Knight had returned after having been informed of Kendall's condition, so she was the first to enter, followed by James, Logan, and Carlos. Kendall's father was still missing by then, and there was no doubt in anyone's mind that he was the one responsible for Kendall's injuries._

_The police were trying to find him, to no avail, but they weren't giving up._

_"Hey." Once it was Carlos' turn to see Kendall, he took a seat on the chair beside his bed and took ahold of his hand, which was cold and clammy against his own. "You really scared us... I thought we were going to lose you."_

_There was no response._

_"The doctors say you should be fine... physically anyway. They don't know when you'll wake up, though." Tears sprung to his eyes as he said those words out loud. "I really wish you'd wake up already. I m-miss you."_

_He tightened his hold on the boy's hand and let out a soft sigh, doing his best to stop himself from crying. "I swear, no matter who it was who did this to you, we won't ever let them hurt you again. I promise you that."_

* * *

Carlos sighed as he sat up and swung his legs over the edge of his bed, and then made his way towards the bedroom door. He quietly walked out and made his way to the living room, where he was met by the sight of James and Kendall sitting on the couch. Kendall had his head resting against James' shoulder, and the brunet's arms were wrapped tightly around the blond.

Smiling at the sight, he returned back to his room and closed the door as quietly as he could, letting his back slide against it, until he was sitting on the floor.

 _I just hope this ends soon_ , he thought as he wrapped his arms around his knees and finally let the tears fall.


	11. Chapter 11

"You know, sometimes he'd lock me in the closet, w-when mom wasn't home," Kendall said in a voice so quiet that James barely heard him. "H-He wouldn't care if I screamed or cried – if anything, it only made him angrier. He'd leave me without food or water, he'd beat me senseless. H-He..." Kendall closed his eyes, tears streaking his cheeks quite rapidly. He was shaking in James' hold, unable to hold back the sobs that caused his body to tremble uncontrollably. "He broke me..."

"Kendall, that's not tr—"

"It is." Slowly, Kendall untangled himself from James' hold and curled up beside him, his knees pulled up close to his chest, while his head rested against James' shoulder. "I can't even look at my own father in the eye, I can't hear his voice, I can't do it without being sent into a panic attack. I'm so scared of him, James. He left me physically and emotionally scarred, and I don't think I'll ever be able to forgive him for what he did."

"You don't have to forgive him, Ken," James said as he placed a hand on the dirty blond's shoulder. "You don't have to forgive anyone if you're not ready to do so, and honestly, he doesn't deserve to be forgiven for what he did to you. Your dad hurt you so much, he put you through something no father should ever put a child through. I'm so sorry he did that to you, because you didn't deserve it, not at all."

"But... But what if... what if I did?" Kendall asked timidly.

"No, Kendy, no." James' heart broke as he placed his hand under Kendall's chin and lifted his head up. The look in Kendall's green eyes reflected pain, guilt and fear, and James wished more than anything that he could take it away. "I already told you, you have done nothing to deserve this, you never did. Your dad's an awful person, who doesn't care about who he hurts, and that isn't your fault. You can't blame yourself for what he did to you. That's most likely what he wants – for you to think that he did what he did to you, because you deserved it. But Kendall, you were just a kid. Heck, you're _still_ just a kid. You didn't know any better back then, and he knew that. He knew that he could threaten you, and that you'd listen to him."

"I just don't know what to believe anymore, James. I feel so lost right now, and I'm so tired. I never thought he'd come back."

Frowning, James wrapped his arm around Kendall's waist, pulling him closer to his side. To his surprise, Kendall leaned against his touch and buried his face against James' chest, his tears dampening the fabric of the brunet's shirt. "I feel so pathetic, I'm so sorry."

"You're not," James said gently, rubbing a hand up and down Kendall's arm in an attempt to comfort him. "You're not pathetic for crying or for letting your emotions show. You're not pathetic for needing reassurance or for needing us. And believe me when I say that you're not bothering me, or Carlos and Logan. You never have, and you never will, because that's what friends are for. We love you so much, and all we want is to keep you safe, and we will. We'll figure this out, okay?"

"I hope so."

"I promise we will. But for now, you need to get some sleep."

"I don't think I'll be able to sleep," the blond said quietly.

James frowned at the boy's words. "At least try, okay?" he said, gently pushing Kendall away so that he could grab the blanket that was on the other side of him. "Please?" he asked, smiling a little when Kendall laid down on the couch and allowed James to drape the blanket over him.

"Just... please don't leave."

"I won't," James promised as he laid down behind Kendall and wrapped his arms around the smaller boy, pulling him close.

Kendall turned around in the older boy's hold and buried his face against James' chest, wrapping his own arms around the brunet's waist. "I don't want to be alone right now," he whispered so quietly that James could barely make out what he had said.

"You're not alone. We're here for you, always, never forget that," James whispered softly, pressing his lips to the top of Kendall's head briefly, and then letting his head rest on top of the blond's. "I love you."

Kendall felt tears begin to gather in his eyes, but he forced them back. He was tired of crying and feeling so vulnerable and afraid. The past two days had been a roller coaster of emotions, and they had left him completely drained of energy. He just wanted things to go back to normal.

"I love you too," he said softly, allowing his eyes to drift shut, but sleep did not come easily.

* * *

"Logan, wake up."

"Five more minutes, mommy," Logan mumbled as he rolled over onto his other side, shielding his face with his blanket, and paying no mind to the boy standing right by his side. Carlos frowned, taking ahold of the blanket that the brunet was currently under, and tugging at it. Apparently Logan was tangled up in the blanket though, since when he tugged at it, the younger boy went rolling off the other side of the bed and falling to the floor.

"Ouch! Carlos!"

"Sorry," the shorter boy apologized. He watched as Logan stood up from the floor and crawled back on the bed, reaching towards his nightstand to turn on the lamp sitting there.

"What are you doing up? It's not even five in the morning yet. It's way too early, and I'm tired." His eyes shifted to Kendall's bed then, noticing that it was empty. "Where's Kendall?"

"He's with James. I actually... I need to talk to you about something."

"Something like what?" the brunet asked suspiciously, knowing that whatever Carlos had to say was probably not something good. The smaller boy was fidgeting where he stood, and his gaze was locked on the bedsheets, refusing to meet Logan in the eye. "Carlos, what happened?"

"Promise you won't hate me?"

Logan gave Carlos a small smile and took ahold of his arm, pulling him to sit on the bed. "No, of course I won't hate you. What's going on?"

"I might have... I might have done something I wasn't supposed to."

"Okay... What exactly did you do?"

"Please don't be mad." Carlos' eyes welled up with tears, his bottom lip trembling as he refused to let them fall. "I don't want you to be mad. And please don't freak out."

Logan fought back the urge to roll his eyes and tell Carlos that he was already starting to freak out, since he didn't want to startle him. The poor kid looked sick with fear. "I won't."

"Promise?"

"Yes, I promise."

"I-I-I... I c-called my dad."

"You _what_?!"

"You said you wouldn't freak out!" Carlos half-whispered, half-yelled, not wanting to wake up James and Kendall, who were asleep in the living room. "I promise nothing bad will happen. I told my dad about Kendall's dad threatening James, so he's aware of that. H-He said he'd take the next flight here. He'll figure out what to do. He can help."

Logan sighed, pulling at his hair with frustration. "Carlos... James is going to freak out when he finds out. I know you're just trying to help, and I know you just want Kendall to be safe – we all do – but it's just... too risky right now."

"I know." Carlos pouted, a tear rolling down his cheek. "But if we don't do something about it now, then who knows what will happen. Something needs to be done, _now_. You saw what he did to James. What it he hurts him again, or goes after one of us next? What if he hurts Kendall? He obviously came back for a reason, and I don't know about you, but I'm not gonna stand around and wait to find out what that reason is."

"How are we gonna tell James?" Logan asked, knowing that Carlos was right. They couldn't just stand around and wait for something worse to happen.

"I don't think we should tell him yet. He'll find out when my dad gets here – I think it'll be better that way. I don't want to worry him ahead of time."

"I don't like keeping it from him, though, or Kendall."

"I don't either," Carlos said sadly, "but you know James will worry, even more than he already does, and Kendall... I don't even know how he'd handle it. But hopefully my dad will be here soon. You know he would never let anything happen to Kendall or to any of us. You guys are like family."

"I hope you're right, because if something happens to Kendall... I don't know what I'll do. I don't know what any of us would do."


	12. Chapter 12

_"Why do you flinch whenever I come anywhere near you?"_

_It was just a simple question, but as the words slipped from James' lips, Kendall was left feeling paralyzed. He couldn't move, couldn't think, and could not come up with an answer that would excuse his abnormal behavior. It wasn't the first time one of the boys had realized that there was something odd about the way he had been acting, and he had a feeling it wouldn't be the last. He knew that there would be a time in which he would no longer be able to hide the truth, but he knew that for now, he had to do his best to not let it slip. It was either that, or be beaten to death, which, if he was being honest, didn't seem like such a bad idea – not considering the life he was living._

_"I..."_

_James raised an eyebrow, waiting for Kendall's response, but the blond looked utterly terrified, so he let it go. But deep down, he knew that he shouldn't have._

* * *

"I'm so sorry, Ken," James whispered as he stared at the younger boy laying by his side, who had his eyes closed, in what appeared to be a peaceful sleep. _I should've protected you_ , he though sadly.

Even though deep down, he knew that what Kendall's father had done to him wasn't his fault, he couldn't help but blame himself. He always wished he could've done something to prevent it. If he had only questioned him further, maybe he would've been able to put a stop to it. Maybe he could've saved Kendall before he had gone through the hell his dad had put him through.

"Don't be." Startled, James watched as Kendall's eyes fluttered open. "Why are you sorry?" he asked quietly, frowning at the brunet, who didn't seem to know what to say.

Seconds of silence passed before James spoke. "I thought you were asleep," he said, ignoring the question.

"I was, kind of, but I heard you apologize... Why are you sorry?" he repeated, concern for his best friend overtaking every other emotion.

"It doesn't matter, just go back to sleep."

Kendall sighed as he untangled himself from James' hold and sat up on the couch. Seeing how there was barely enough room for the two of them, James sat up as well and moved a bit to the side, allowing Kendall to sit beside him.

"Don't do that, please."

"It's really not important. I'm just sorry all of this has been happening. I'm sorry he had to come back and ruin everything."

"James... please tell me the truth."

"What do you mean?" James asked, pretending to be confused in hopes that Kendall would just change the subject, but he knew it wouldn't work. Kendall was stubborn, perhaps even more stubborn that him. If he wanted to find out something, he wouldn't give up on trying to get it out of him.

"I've known you for most of my life. That's not going to work, you know. Whatever it is that you're sorry for, please just tell me. I don't know why you're apologizing... It shouldn't be you who should apologize."

"He hurt you," James started, tears gathering in his eyes as he looked over at Kendall, who stared back at him with guilt in his eyes, "and I did nothing to stop it."

"But, that wasn't your fault. Why are you blaming yourself for that?"

"The signs were there, Kendall. It was obvious that you were hurting, and I think all three of us noticed that something was not right. You were hurting, and instead of trying to get you to tell me what was going on, I would brush it off whenever you'd get upset. I shouldn't have done that."

"That was my decision. I _could_ have told you, but I didn't. How is that your fault?"

"It just is... Can we just drop it? It's not important anymore. What's important right now is that we don't let him come anywhere near any of us, and that we find a way to get him out of here."

Frowning, Kendall nodded his head and turned away from James. "Just know that none of this is your fault, _none_ of it. _He_ hurt me, not you. You've done nothing but be supportive and helped me get through life after everything he did. And for that, I'm so thankful... You have no idea how thankful I am to have you, or Carlos or Logan. Without you guys... without you, I don't think I would've made it this far."

Looking up, he was met by the sight of a teary-eyed James, who had tears running down his face. "We're family. That's why we're here, you know."

Kendall smiled as he wrapped his arms around James' torso, and rested his head against the boy's shoulder. "Thank you... for everything. It really means a lot to me."

"Anytime, Ken."

* * *

"I'm nervous." Carlos paced back and forth in his and James' room, his hands tangled in black tufts of hair. "What if I made a mistake by calling my dad? What if James hates me? What if something happens to Kendall?" he said quietly to Logan, who was sitting down on James' bed, watching him with worry.

"He's not going to hate you. He may be upset, and he might get worried and panic a bit, but he won't hate you," Logan said softly.

"I really hope so. I really hope I'm not just making things worse."

"You're not. I'm sure that once your dad gets here, he'll figure everything out. He always does."

"Yeah, but—" Before Carlos could continue, there was a knock on the front door. "He's here!"

Shaking his head, Logan held a finger to his lips, motioning for Carlos to be quiet. Slowly, he walked towards the bedroom door and twisted the doorknob. "They're asleep, come on."

"They're going to wake up..."

"Just come, it'll be fine."

Being careful not to make any noise, Carlos followed Logan as he made his way towards the apartment's entrance. After looking back to make sure that Kendall and James were still asleep, Carlos unlocked the door, and quietly opened it to reveal his dad on the other side.


	13. Chapter 13

"So, will someone tell me what's going on?"

Carlos looked from his dad to Logan, his eyes full of fear. The three of them were now sitting in Carlos and James' bedroom, trying to be as quiet as possible so that they would not awaken the two boys in the living room.

"It's kind of a long story... Kendall and James don't know that you're here, and I'm afraid of how James will react once he finds out that I called you," Carlos said quietly.

"Why are you afraid of how he will react?" the older man asked with confusion.

Running a hand through his black tufts of hair, Carlos turned to Logan, who rolled his eyes and proceeded to explain what had happened since Kendall's dad had arrived.

"Kendall's dad got here two days ago, and we don't really know why he's here, but it doesn't seem to be for a good reason. Shortly after Kendall saw him in the lobby, he ran up here – he was terrified. I don't think I've ever seen him that afraid before. Not since... everything that happened."

"What happened after that?"

"Well, Kendall came into our room, and I couldn't get him to calm down. It was scary seeing him like that."

"And while that was going on, Kendall's dad came and knocked on the door. At the time, no one really knew what was going on, so James opened the door, not knowing it was Kendall's dad. He demanded to see Kendall, and I got mad and told him that he had no right to do that. He hurt him so much, papi..."

"I know, mijo," the older man said as he placed a hand on his son's shoulder, who appeared to be in the verge of tears. "Can you tell me what happened after that?"

Carlos nodded his head, biting on his bottom lip to fight back the tears. "We didn't really know what to do, so we made sure to keep Kendall safe. We were too afraid to go anywhere, and our main priority was keeping Kendall safe. But then... he called his cellphone."

"Kenneth called Kendall's number?"

Carlos nodded in confirmation. "We still don't know how he got his number."

"We thought somebody might've given him Kendall's number, so James and I decided to go out and try to find out what had happened. We were kind of hoping that if we did find out who it was that had given him his number, we'd be able to stop something like that from happening again, but... it wasn't our brightest idea."

"What do you mean?" Carlos' dad looked at Logan with worry, seeing the expression of fear reflect off the boy's chocolate brown eyes. "Did something happen because of that?"

"He found James, and he... he threatened him. He hurt him, and then threatened him by telling him that if he did call the police, he'd hurt Kendall... That's why we're afraid of how James will react once he finds out that you're here."

"Once I find out who's here?"

Logan and Carlos froze, looking back to see James standing in the doorway to the bedroom, his eyes wide open in surprise. "W-What are you doing here?" he asked, pointing a finger towards Carlos' dad, who was now standing and walking towards him.

"James, it's okay, I'm just here to help—"

"Help?! He's going to _kill_ Kendall if he sees you! He can't find out that you're here!" The younger boy was now hyperventilating, trying to back away from the older man.

"What's going on— Papi?" Kendall stood behind James, who was now facing him, eyes blown wide in fear. "What is happening?"

"Kendall..."

"What's going on...?" The dirty blond repeated, diverting his eyes from James, to Carlos' dad, to the two boys behind him. When no one responded, he brushed past James and walked up to Antonio Garcia, knitting his eyebrows together in confusion at the man who had been there for him when his father hadn't. "Papi, what are you doing here?"

"I'm here to help, mijo, with this whole situation."

Kendall shook his head. "Y-You can't do that. You don't know how dangerous he really is. You don't know what he's capable of... I don't want him to hurt you."

Placing both hands on the teen's shoulders, Antonio pushed him to sit on James' bed, and then knelt down in front of him. He then turned to James, nodding to the empty space beside Kendall. Hesitantly, the brunet walked towards it and took a seat, his gaze turning towards his lap.

"I want both of you to listen to me, alright?" When he received two small nods from the two boys, he continued. "I love you two as if you were my own children, and I will not allow anyone to hurt either one of you, or Logan or Carlos, regardless of whether that person is family or not. I know you're both worried and scared, but trust me when I say that you boys have nothing to worry about. Now that I'm here, I'll figure out what to do about him and get to the bottom of this. Now," he turned to James, letting his hand rest on his shoulder, "what did he do to you?"

"Me?" James asked, as if he hadn't heard him the first time. "It wasn't a big deal, I'm fine."

"James, it doesn't matter if it seems like a big deal to you or not. The more information I know, the better. Please just tell me what happened."

Sighing, James turned to Kendall, who was visibly shaking beside him, green eyes locked on the older boy. "Can you guys take Kendall outside?" he asked Carlos and Logan, who were staring at him as well.

Carlos opened his mouth to respond, but Kendall spoke before he could do so.

"No."

"What?" James asked, taken aback by surprise.

"I said, no. I'm not going anywhere."

"Kendall..."

"Unless there's something that you don't want me to hear."

The taller boy frowned, running his fingers through disheveled locks of brown hair. "Fine, stay. Just... know that what I'm about to say is not your fault, in any way."

"Okay..."

Hazel eyes turned to face the older man standing in front of them. "Logan and I went out, hoping we would find out how Kendall's dad got his number, because he called him the day in which he got an apartment here." He felt Kendall tense up at the memory, so he wrapped an arm around the boy's shoulders, pulling him close. "It's okay," he said softly, pressing his lips to the top of Kendall's head for a brief second. "So, we decided to split up. I walked around for a bit, asking a few of our friends if they knew anything, but no one did. Then I remembered Jett, an actor who lives here, who isn't very fond of Kendall, and I thought that he might know something, so I decided to go to his apartment, but..."

"But?"

"But when I got there, he appeared."

"Kenneth?" Antonio asked, wanting to be sure.

"Yeah, him."

"Alright. What happened when he got there?"

"He said he wanted to make amends, but I knew that's not why he was there. I didn't want to talk to him, but I was so mad. I started yelling at him, and I guess that's what set him off, because the next thing I knew, he was trying to choke me and had me pressed against the wall. I thought he was going to kill me... He hit me a couple of times and then left."

"Did he say anything else?"

"Well..." Not wanting to tell the truth in front of Kendall, but knowing that he had no other choice, James turned to the boy leaning against him, his heart breaking at the sight of the fear he found in his eyes. "Yeah... he kind of did."

"And that would be...?"

James closed his eyes, forcing himself not to cry. "He threatened me. He said that if... that if we called the police, he'd hurt Kendall o-or k-kill him."

Feeling Kendall shake even harder, James wrapped both of his arms around him, holding him as close as possible. "It's okay. He's not going to hurt you, I promise."

Antonio stood up, anger clear in his eyes. "I'll deal with this, okay? I'll get him out of here, it's all gonna be fine, trust me."

James looked up at him, smiling a little. "Thank you."

"That's what family's for," Antonio said to James before looking down at Kendall, who looked shaken up, to put it lightly. "It's gonna be okay, mijo," he said softly. "I promise you, you're all going to be okay. I won't let him hurt any of you."


	14. Chapter 14

_"...So I thought maybe we could go outside, play some street hockey... anything. We miss you."_

_"You see me every day at school," Kendall pointed out, agitated by the fact that James and the other boys kept trying to convince him to get out of the house. "Besides, I really don't feel like playing right now."_

_"Kendall..." James' voice trailed off as he stared at his best friend – the best friend he no longer recognized. For years, Kendall had done his best to hold himself together, for the sake of his mother, his little sister, his friends, and everyone else around him. But now that it had been a few months since they had all found out about the abuse his father had put him through, he had finally put down the façade. It was until now that they could all see the real damage that his father had done to him, and it broke James' heart to see him like this._

_"What?" He didn't even look up at James as he uttered that one word – his eyes remained staring at his feet and away from James' worried stare._

_"Kendall, look at me, please," James pleaded softly, tears pooling behind hazel eyes._

_Sighing in defeat, Kendall looked up at him, feigning an angry expression in hopes that it would mask the sadness that hid behind green eyes. "What do you want from me?" he asked, swallowing the lump that had grown in his throat. "I just wanna be left alone."_

_"I want to talk. You've been shutting everyone out lately. We barely see you anymore. We miss you, Kendall. We miss the real you, this isn't you," James said in the verge of breaking down. "We're worried about you."_

_Kendall sighed and looked away, letting his body fall back on the bed. He turned around so that he was no longer facing James. He didn't want him to see him break down. "I'm just tired, that's all."_

_"You're lying."_

_"I'm not."_

_"Kendall, please—"_

_"How would you know?" His tone was bitter and angry as he sat back up, tears pooling in his eyes and slowly making their way down his cheeks. "For years I hid what my dad was doing to me, and_ nobody _noticed. So how would you know if I'm lying or not?"_

_His words hurt, more than James would dare to admit. Even though he knew that Kendall didn't mean what he said, he couldn't help but allow the guilt to consume him, because just like everybody else, he felt guilty for not having noticed how badly his friend was hurting. Hearing the words come from Kendall's mouth only made it hurt even more._

_"I'm... I'm sorry, James." Kendall choked on his own words as he stared at James, his facial expression softening into one of guilt and regret. "I didn't mean that. I just..."_

_"It's okay, I get it. If you wanna be left alone, I'll leave," James said in a monotone voice, ready to stand up and walk out of the room, but he stopped as Kendall grabbed his arm and pulled him back down, his grip on his arm not loosening until he was sure he would not walk away._

_"It's not okay," he whispered, drying his eyes with the heel of his hands. "I hid it well; you couldn't have known. It's just that..."_

_"It's just that what?" James asked, turning to face him as Kendall looked away._

_Seconds ticked by, with no words being exchanged between them. The younger boy seemed to be lost in his own thoughts, until he finally looked up, with tears swimming in his eyes. "I just... I k-keep replaying everything in my head; everything that he did to me, everything that he said. And I keep asking myself, 'Why? Why did he do it? Was it something I did? Is it my fault after all?'"_

_"Ken... What your dad did to you wasn't your fault. Why do you think it was?"_

_Kendall shrugged his shoulders in response and closed his eyes, wishing that the earth would swallow him whole at that very moment. "Lots of reasons," he said, his heart feeling like it might beat out of his chest. He hesitated for a moment, being too afraid to say what he was really thinking, but deep down he knew that he could trust James, so he let the words slip without a second thought. "He told me that it was, practically every d-day. He'd blame me for everything, and would say that I deserved what he did to me." He then looked up at the older boy, the tears now cascading down his face like a waterfall. "I'm such a screw up, James..."_

_"No. No, you're n-not." James was unable to hide the shakiness in his voice once he saw Kendall break down. He scooted closer towards the blond and carefully wrapped his arms around him, pulling him closer to his body and allowing Kendall to seek refuge in his arms. "I don't know exactly what he told you or what he did to you, but I do know that you are not to blame for his actions."_

_"H-How do you know that?" Kendall asked, his voice muffled by the fabric of James' shirt, which he was clinging to for dear life. "According to him, I was a mistake, and he and mom n-never wanted me."_

_Anger ran through James' veins – anger for the man who stole the light that was once present in Kendall's eyes. He had stolen his happiness, taken away his innocence, and left behind a shadow of the person James once knew. And as much as James hated it, he knew that this was real life – it wasn't some nightmare that he could awaken from and leave in the past. But he also knew that no matter how long it took, he would find a way to make Kendall happy again. He wouldn't give up on him so easily._

* * *

"Is he okay?"

Logan's voice startled James out of his thoughts. He looked up, his eyes moving in the direction in which his voice had come from. "Yeah, he knocked himself out," he whispered to the shorter brunet, who was standing beside his bed, looking visibly worried. Beside James, Kendall laid, head tucked under his chin.

"Are you okay?" Logan asked as he took a seat on the very edge of the bed and placed a hand on James' knee.

"I'm not the one you should be worried about," James said flatly. "Besides, I'm fine. I'm just worried, as I'm sure all of us are."

"About Kendall?" Logan whispered in fear that he would awaken the sleeping boy that laid curled up against James' chest. James nodded his head, his hold on the smaller boy tightening as he nuzzled his face against soft tufts of blond hair and closed his eyes. "It'll be okay, James," Logan assured him softly, frowning when he saw James' shoulders start to quake. "Papi will figure everything out, and before you know it, things will go back to normal."

"What if they don't?"

"What do you mean?" Logan asked, clearly puzzled by the question. "Why wouldn't they?"

James sighed as he carefully got up and moved Kendall, so that his head was now resting on a pillow and not on his chest. He motioned towards the bedroom entrance, and the two of them walked towards it, not stopping until they were outside, where they were sure Kendall wouldn't be able to hear what James had to say.

"I guess I'm afraid that things will get bad again. Do you remember how badly Kendall was hurt when we first found out about what his dad had been doing? He wouldn't talk to us – he'd isolate himself in his room. He became so withdrawn, and he just seemed so... dead on the inside. I don't want him to go through that again."

"That's not going to happen. We won't allow his dad to hurt him that much again. You said it yourself, we won't let him come near him."

"Yeah, but what if—"

"G-Guys?"

James was interrupted as Carlos slowly made his way towards them, cellphone held tightly in his hand. The expression that was on his face was of pure fear and disbelief. "Something happened, and it's not good..."


	15. Chapter 15

"You look like you've seen a ghost. What happened? And what do you mean it's not good?" Logan asked as he took a step towards Carlos and placed a hand on his shoulder. When the smaller boy didn't respond and simply looked down, Logan's worry grew. "Carlos, what happened?"

"He's gone." The two words were said so quietly that James, who was standing behind Logan, wasn't able to hear him clearly.

"What?" James asked as he stared at him in confusion.

"H-he's gone. He's gone. That was my dad. He doesn't know where he's gone to or what's going on, but he's gone."

"Who's gone?" the taller brunet asked, not quite understanding what Carlos meant.

"Kendall's dad," Logan whispered as he turned to look at James with fear in his eyes.

"What do you mean he's _gone_?" James asked, grabbing onto Carlos' shoulders and steadying him, since he looked like he was about to lose his balance. "Carlos, we need details, you're not making much sense."

"I don't have any details. My dad went to his apartment, and he was gone. He doesn't know where he has gone to, but he said he'll figure it out. He also said not to tell Kendall, because—"

"We can't lie to Kendall," Logan said, cutting him off before he could go any farther.

"It's not _really_ lying. We're just not telling him."

"It's still lying."

"Logan, he will freak out, that's why my dad doesn't want us to tell him. You saw how badly he reacted when he found out his dad was back. If he finds out he's gone, who knows how he will react."

"So what are we supposed to do? Just lie to our best friend and act like nothing has happened? He's going to find out eventually."

James sighed and placed a hand on Logan's shoulder, and then led him to the bright orange couch in the living room, where they all took a seat. "Look, we'll tell him, just not now. It would probably be better to tell him when Carlos' dad is here and when we have more details. There's no need to scare him right now, when we don't even know what's going on."

"I just... I don't know." Logan frowned as he let his head fall into his hands and grasped at his short, dark brown tufts of hair in anger. "I'm so upset, by all of this. This is all so messed up. Kendall doesn't deserve this."

"No, he doesn't," James agreed. "You don't know how much I would like to go up to that bastard, and punch his face right in after everything he's done."

"You know, he's scared we'll see him differently," Logan whispered as he looked up at Carlos and then at James.

"Why would he think that?" Carlos asked, not understanding why Kendall would think such a thing.

"Because he's Kendall," James mumbled. "That's just how he is."

"You don't think it might have something to do with his dad, do you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well... He often hides how he's feeling and doesn't like showing any kind of negative emotion around us, or around anyone, really. It just makes me wonder if there is something his father could've said or done to make him act that way."

"He probably did," Logan said. "He caused him so much pain, I wouldn't be surprised if the reason behind that had to do with the way his dad treated him."

"I wish we'd found out sooner," James whispered quietly. "I just wish... I wish he hadn't gone through what he went through. I can't believe we didn't find out sooner. I feel so—"

"Guilty."

All three of them looked up as Kendall trudged into the room, stopping in front of them as they all remained silent.

"You feel guilty."

"Kendall, I—"

The blond shook his head, not letting James finish. "Please don't lie to me and tell me it's not true. You apologized to me last night, when you had no reason to apologize. I'll understand if you feel guilty. If I was in your shoes, and one of you was in mine, I would feel guilty, too. But by saying that, I don't mean it was your fault or that you should feel guilty, because none of you should."

"Neither should you," James said softly, holding out his hand and grabbing onto Kendall's wrist to pull him towards the couch. Logan and Carlos scooted to the right, leaving Kendall enough space to sit down. "So why do you?"

Kendall shrugged his shoulders, sighing heavily as he leaned his back against the cushions and pulled his knees up to his chest. "Force of habit, I guess. When you are constantly told that something is your fault, you start to believe it."

"No one's saying it's your fault, though," Carlos pointed out.

"No," Kendall sighed before placing his head on top of James' shoulder and letting his eyes close shut, "no one does anymore, but he would... all the time."

"He's a liar," James said as he wrapped an arm around Kendall's shoulders and pulled him closer. "Everything he said to you was nothing but lies. He doesn't know you, Kendall. He may be your father, and he may have been living in the same house as you for a big part of your life, but he does not know you – not the way we do. He doesn't know how great you are."

"I'm... I'm not great."

"Yes, you are, and anyone who has taken the time to get to know you would agree."

"I'm just... scared." As the words slipped from his lips, Kendall looked up at James, his eyes full of tears that he had been bottling up for hours.

"What are you scared of?" Carlos asked as he reached past Logan to lay a hand on the blond's shoulder.

"It's stupid."

"It's not stupid if you're scared. If something is bothering you, it's not stupid. You know you can tell us anything. We won't judge you for it."

Kendall stayed quiet for a minute as he stared straight ahead. He refused to look any of them in the eye, in fear that he would break down if he were to do so. "What if... What if I become like him when I'm older? I don't want to be like him..."

"You are not your father, Kendall. You're not him, and you will _never_ be like him," Logan softly spoke as he kneeled down in front of his younger friend and grabbed onto Kendall's hands, which were resting on his lap. "He is a cruel and heartless person, who has no compassion for others. You do. You care about everyone, even those who you're not close to. You are nothing like him."

"I just don't wanna be a bad person," Kendall mumbled, his eyes shifting to stare into Logan's. "I don't want to hurt someone the way he hurt me. I don't think I would ever forgive myself if I did that."

"Well, you don't have to worry about that, because that's not happening."

"I hope so."

"I know so. Right guys?"

James and Carlos nodded where they sat, agreeing with what Logan had said.

"Of course not. Just because the two of you are blood related, does not mean anything. You're better than him, Kendall," Carlos said as he scooted closer to him and hugged him tightly. "You are _so_ much better than him."


	16. Chapter 16

The past always came back to haunt him, no matter how much he tried to run from it. Not many people knew about his dark past – it wasn't something he often shared with others, and he liked to keep it that way. It was something personal, and the only people who really knew about it were James, Carlos and Logan, and his family, of course, but even they didn't know everything.

They didn't know about the awful things his father would say and do to him. They didn't know just how much his words and actions had affected him, even years after his father was put behind bars. They didn't know, and sometimes he was glad they didn't know everything, because he didn't want them to know just how broken he was.

He was the leader – the unofficial leader of the band, as well as the leader of their group. He was the one who the others often looked to for guidance; the one that was expected, at least in his eyes, to look after the other three. He wasn't supposed to be seen as broken or damaged, but that is what he thought of himself, and he was terrified the others would eventually see him that way too.

Abuse changes a person – it alters their personality and changes the way they see things. Whether the abuse was physical, sexual or emotional, it hurts, and it leaves scars that sometimes don't even fade away with time. For Kendall, the abuse he had been put through had left many scars, both on the inside and on the outside, and it was those scars that made him hate himself. The scars, along with the vivid memories that often plagued his mind, were what made him want to disappear into thin air.

He thought that he was over what had happened before, but once his father returned, he was proved wrong once more. He hated himself for thinking that he was fine, because he now realized that he was far from it.

The return of his father had brought back memories – memories he thought he'd put behind him. They were memories that often accompanied him in his dreams, and that for years had made his every waking and sleeping hour a nightmare he could not escape from. And now, the cause of that nightmare was back, and he didn't know what to think, feel or do to get rid of him.

He was glad Carlos had called his dad. He was someone that Kendall trusted, and he knew that he would do everything in his power to make sure that he and the other boys were safe from harm's way. But he also felt useless and powerless, because having him there reminded him of what had happened when they had all found him unconscious on the side of a road, and that's something he didn't want to think about. But that's all he could think about now – that, and about how it had all started.

* * *

_"Mommy, please don't go!"_

_Kendall ran down the stairs, a stuffed moose held tightly in one arm as he headed towards the front door, where his mom was standing. The 4-year-old clung to the hem of his mother's coat once he reached her, an expression of sadness and fear present on his face. "I don't want you to go, mommy." Tears pooled in his green eyes as he looked up at his mother, who kneeled down to his level and pulled him into a hug._

_"I'll be back soon, sweetie. I really have to go. Daddy will be here to look after you though, okay?" she said softly, pushing him to arm's length. "I won't be gone long. Please don't cry."_

_The little blond boy wiped at his eyes with the sleeve of his pajama shirt, which reached a bit past his fingertips. "O-okay," he hiccuped as his mother stood back up and ruffled his hair affectionately._

_He watched her reach for the suitcase standing beside her and then walk out the door, leaving him alone with his father._

_"D-daddy, when is mommy coming home?" Kendall asked as he looked up at the older man._

_He smiled and lifted the boy off the floor and hauled him over his shoulder. "She'll be home soon enough," he said, his voice void of emotion. Kendall didn't say anything as his father headed in the direction of his room, where he sat him down on his bed, and then turned around to leave._

_"Aren't you gonna tuck me in like you always do?" he asked, swinging his legs on the edge of the bed._

_The older man sighed and walked over to the little boy, kissing the top of his head. "Goodnight."_

_"Goodnight, daddy," Kendall said with a smile as he snuggled up against the fuzzy blanket draped over him and hugged his stuffed moose to his chest._

_Kendall's father did not smile back as he turned around and walked out of the room, closing the door shut behind him._

_That night, it took Kendall a while to fall asleep. He couldn't stop worrying about how his mother wasn't home. And when he finally did fall asleep, he was awoken by a vivid nightmare and sprung out of bed and towards his parents' bedroom. Sobbing, he climbed onto the bed and shook his father, who seemed unfazed by the boy's behavior._

_"D-daddy, can I sleep with you?" he asked once his father's eyes had shot open, but the older man only grumbled in response and pushed him back. "I-I had a nightmare," he hiccuped, tears falling down his face freely._

_"Kendall, you're a big boy, you don't have to sleep with me," his father finally said, rolling his eyes at the toddler. "Just go back to sleep in your own bed."_

_"B-but then the monsters will get me."_

_"There are no monsters. Go to bed."_

_"But daddy—"_

_"_ Now! _"_

_Frightened by the tone of anger in his father's voice, Kendall ran back to his room and closed his bedroom door. He then climbed back onto his bed and pulled his blanket over his body, until it was covering him from head to toe. He couldn't stop shaking or crying. All he wanted was for his mom to come back home and make everything okay, like she always did. His father had never spoken to him with that kind of tone before, and he didn't know what to think._

_Little did he know, that was just the beginning of what was to come._

* * *

"He sexually abused me." Kendall stared straight ahead as he said those four words, grasping his bed sheets in both hands with a tight grip. It was the first time he had ever said that out loud, and he didn't know what had led him to say it, but he did know he couldn't look James, Carlos or Logan in the eye. "H-he didn't just physically and emotionally abuse me. He did way more than that."

James was the first to react and try to reach out towards him, since he was the one who was the closest. Carlos was just a few feet away, sitting on Logan's bed, and Logan was seated on the desk beside his mattress. However, as James' hand made contact with Kendall's arm, the blond flinched, making him pull away, despite desperately wanting to pull the smaller boy into his arms.

"Kendall..."

"Don't... don't say it. I know I'm damaged goods, you don't have to say it."

"That's not what I was going to say at all," James said softly, feeling tears prick at his eyes. "And you are not damaged goods. What happened does not decrease your value as a person."

"James is right," Carlos said as he stood up and took the few steps towards the blond, stopping in front of him. "We're not gonna think any less of you because of this. We're proud of you for telling us. I'm sure it's not something that is easy to talk about, but you did it, and that was really brave of you."

"Brave? You think I'm _brave_?" Kendall finally looked up, his eyes brimming with tears. "I'm not brave. I'm the furthest thing from brave. If I was brave, I would've told someone about what was going on. If I was brave, I wouldn't be as fucked up as I am now. I'm not brave, Carlos. I'm not."

"Kendall, you don't understand—"

"I don't understand?" Kendall asked, interrupting Logan. " _You_ don't understand. All three of you don't understand... _nobody_ understands."

"We're trying to," James said softly from where he sat. It broke his heart to see Kendall this upset – it broke all of their hearts, and what was even more upsetting was knowing that there was nothing they could do or say to make things any easier for him. All they could really do was be there for him.

"I know. I just... don't know what to think anymore. I'm so sorry."

"You don't have to apologize. You've done nothing wrong." James reached for Kendall once more, and when he saw that he didn't flinch again, he placed an arm around the boy's shoulders, pulling him close to his side. It didn't take long for Kendall to turn in his hold and bury his face against the crook of the taller boy's neck, his tears dampening James' t-shirt. "It's okay, I've got you," he whispered, rubbing circles against Kendall's back. "It'll all be okay."

Only problem was, he didn't know if he could even believe the words he was saying.


	17. Chapter 17

"Can I be left alone for a bit?" Kendall mumbled as his eyes traveled around the room to look at each of his friends. Beside him, James stiffened, while Logan and Carlos looked at each other, and then back at him with worry.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Logan asked from where he was now sitting on his bed, next to Carlos.

"I just need to be alone for a bit, that's all."

"Kendall..." James started, shifting beside him. Kendall could feel him tighten his arms around him, as if he was afraid he would vanish if he were to let go.

"I'll be fine, I promise. I just... I need time to think, I guess."

James sighed and loosened his hold, allowing Kendall to slip away. He watched as Kendall scooted over the the top part of the bed, his back pressed against the wall. He had now pulled his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms tightly around them, as he watched them, waiting for them to leave.

"We'll be just outside," James said softly as he stood, followed closely by Carlos and Logan. He took one last glance at the blond when he neared the entrance, and then followed the other two out the door.

Kendall watched them go before letting the tears fall. He was tired of everything. He felt like he was suffocating, not only because his father had come back, but also by all the attention the boys were giving him. While he appreciated how much they cared about him, he wasn't used to all the attention. He hated to worry them. He knew they worried because they cared about him, but it reminded him too much of the past. This whole incident reminded him of the past, and the past was not something he liked to think about. It made him feel hopeless and alone. Maybe he wasn't alone now, but at one point in his life, that's all he had felt.

For years, he had been forced to keep everything he was feeling and everything that was happening to him, a secret. He had suppressed it, and it had been killing him in the inside, but he couldn't tell anyone. He'd make up lies whenever anyone would get suspicious, all because he was afraid of what would happen if he were to tell anyone the truth. He knew what his father was capable of. He knew that if he went against what he said, he would regret it. He would end up getting even more hurt, or even worse, it would end up with someone he loved getting hurt, and he couldn't risk that.

Letting out a strangled breath, he sunk back against the mattress and reached for the blanket at his feet. He covered himself from head to toe, wishing the earth would just swallow him whole. He remembered how when he was really little, his mom would always tell him that as long as he hid under his blanket, the monsters wouldn't be able to get to him. At the time, he had believed it. But now that he was older, he knew it wasn't true.

Monsters weren't just figments of his imagination. They weren't just strange creatures found in nightmares when he was sleeping. They were real, and in his case, the monster he couldn't get away from was his own father. He was somebody who lived under the same roof as him for years. He was somebody no one would suspect of hurting him. His father was a good liar, and so was he, but they lied for different reasons. His father lied to hurt him. He would act like he cared when around other people, but once they were left alone, he would turn Kendall's life into a living nightmare. Kendall on the other hand, would lie to keep his loved ones safe. He knew that as long as he allowed his father to get away with whatever he wanted, he wouldn't hurt anyone else. He wouldn't hurt his mother or Katie, which was something Kendall was grateful for. He had wanted Katie. As he had told him on multiple occasions, he and his mother hadn't wanted a child at the time Kendall was born. He knew that at least half of that statement was true. He was a mistake in his father's eyes, and because of it, he had been forced to pay the price. At least, that's what he had been told.

As he laid there, in the darkness the blanket provided, he couldn't help but allow his mind to wander to the day his friends had found out about everything. It was the day his life had been completely turned upside down.

* * *

_"Kendall, wake up! It's time for school!"_

_Kendall groaned as he felt the weight of his little sister land on top of him, practically knocking the air out of his lungs. He turned over on his bed, only to be met by the sight of her smiling face._

_"You're up!"_

_"How can you be so cheery in the morning?" he questioned her as he lightly pushed her off of him and ruffled her hair affectionately._

_The 6-year-old shrugged her shoulders before reaching for his arm and pulling him out of bed. Being a bit disoriented due to having barely woken up, he almost face-planted on the floor._

_"Ugh, Katie, slow down! We're not in a hurry!" he exclaimed as he steadied himself. He stared at her, taking notice of the fact she was still in her pajamas. "You're not even dressed yet!"_

_"Yeah, but if I didn't get you out of bed, you would've gone back to sleep."_

_Kendall opened his mouth to disagree, but closed it a second later when he realized she was probably right. "Good point."_

_"I know."_

_Before Kendall could say anything else, Katie had walked out of the room, leaving him shaking his head in disbelief. "Get ready!" he yelled after her. "I'll be downstairs in like twenty minutes!"_

_"Okay!"_

_No sooner had she left, that his happy demeanor vanished. There was a sinking feeling in his chest that rarely ever went away. He was exhausted, not only physically but also emotionally. Though at the same time, he looked forward to school. School meant he could leave his house for a bit, and perhaps even forget about the troubles he dealt with at home, though that wasn't very easy to do. At least, not when he had an abusive father, who constantly hurt him and reminded him about how worthless he was in his eyes._

_He sluggishly proceeded with his morning routine. By the time he was ready, he only had about ten minutes to spare before he and Katie had to head to school. His mom and dad worked early in the morning, so he had to walk Katie to school before he headed to his._

_This morning, it was different, though. This morning, as he reached the bottom of the stairs and turned to walk into the kitchen, he found both Katie and his father at the table having breakfast. He could feel his skin crawl as he came to a stop in front of them, his heart beating rapidly in his chest. He felt like he was going to be sick. The sight of his dad was enough to send chills running down his spine._

_"Kendall, aren't you gonna have something to eat? You can't go to school on an empty stomach."_

As if you care _, Kendall thought, but he said nothing as he trudged into the kitchen, his gaze locked on the floor. He couldn't look his father in the eye. He knew that if he did, he'd most likely be sent into an anxiety attack, and he couldn't have that happen in front of Katie. It wouldn't be the first time it happened, though. Being around his father always caused his anxiety to skyrocket, but he always managed to hide it or act like he didn't know what had caused it._

_His hands trembled as he reached for a bowl from one of the cupboards in the kitchen. He made sure to only pour a bit of cereal into it, having lost his appetite at the sight of his father._

_When he reached the table, Katie stood up, mumbling something about having forgotten her homework upstairs, and left to get it. Kendall watched her go with a terrified expression on his face. He knew that his father wouldn't do or say anything in front of Katie, but now they were alone._

_"So, I need you to do something for me," his father spoke, making Kendall freeze where he sat. "You are going to drop Katie off, alright? And after you do, you are to come back here."_

_Kendall could only nod in response as Katie came running down the stairs. He knew better than to question him._

_"Are you gonna take us to school, daddy?" Katie asked, smiling widely, but Mr. Knight shook his head at her._

_"I'm afraid I'm already late for work, sweetheart. Kendall will take you. Right, son?"_

_It was then that Katie looked up at Kendall, as if waiting for him to say something._

_"Uh, yeah. Come on, baby sister." Kendall stood up on shaking legs and wrapped a protective arm around Katie's shoulders. They both said their goodbyes and rushed out the front door._

_Throughout most of the walk to Katie's school, Kendall remained fairly quiet. He was too wrapped up in his own thoughts to pay attention to anything else. He was terrified of what his father would do. He could only assume it was something bad, and he didn't want to find out what it was. But he knew that he had no choice but to do as he had said, or else something even worse would happen._

_When they reached Katie's school, Kendall pulled her into his arms and kissed the top of her head. "Bye, baby sister," he said and faked a smile as he kept her at arm's length. "Have a good day at school. I love you."_

_As soon as he let her go, she waved back at him and then ran into her classroom._

* * *

_When he got home, his father was sitting on the couch, a beer bottle held in one hand. His father's attention was turned towards him as soon as he stepped foot inside the house. He sneered as he stood and made his way towards Kendall. The blond's first instinct was to run, and that's exactly what he did. He ran up the stairs and towards his room, but he could hear footsteps following close by._

_He was almost to his room, when he suddenly felt like he was being pulled backwards. His body collided with his father's, making him freeze in fear._

_"What have I told you about trying to run away from me?" the older man asked as he grabbed him by the front of his shirt, pulling him off the ground with ease. "You're such a coward," he spat before pulling Kendall towards his room and throwing him on the ground._

_Kendall tried to get up, but he was knocked to the ground once more when his father kicked him in the stomach. He had no chance to catch his breath as he was pinned to the floor, his father looming over him. The grin on his face sent chills running through Kendall's body. No matter how many times his father put a hand on him, he could never get used to it. He could never get used to the pain he would bring him._

_"Just stop." He could feel the tears already building in his eyes, but he couldn't let them fall. He was tired of showing weakness around his father. He was tired of it all. "Just leave me alone."_

_"Don't you get it?" His father chuckled humorlessly, his hand winding around Kendall's throat. "We never wanted you," he said, his hold tightening._

_Kendall would have been lying if he said that hearing those words didn't hurt. They always did. If anything, the things his father would say to him hurt more than any punch ever would. He was angry, though. He was sick of letting his father get away with it all. For the first time ever, he decided that enough was enough. He couldn't do this anymore._

_He tried fighting back, until all his energy was spent. By the time he could no longer fight back, he was sure he had more than a couple of broken ribs, a black eye, and his bottom lip was split and bleeding. Fighting back had been useless; he was no match against the older man. No matter how hard he tried, he could never win. He never had before, he wasn't sure why he had even tried._

_"Come on, you're coming with me."_

_Kendall cried out as he was suddenly hauled off the ground and thrown over his father's shoulder. The action did nothing to subside the pain in his ribs. His father didn't seem to be bothered by it, not that Kendall expect him to be. It was obvious to Kendall by now that he didn't care at all about the pain he brought him._

_He couldn't remember much after that. He could only assume that his father had done something to knock him out, because when he woke up, he was no longer home – he was in the hospital._

* * *

_"Kendall?! Kendall, are you awake?" That was the first thing he heard as his eyes cracked open, but he couldn't tell who it was that had spoken. The hospital room's lights were so bright that he was forced to close his eyes not even a second after he had opened them. He could feel a hand holding onto his tightly and the presence of someone beside him, but he was too tired and drugged up on medication to make out who it was that was in the room with him._

_He struggled to move his head to the side and open his eyes again. The face he saw when he was finally able to keep them open belonged to Logan._

_"W-what—"_

_"You're in the hospital," Logan said carefully, not wanting to startle him. "We, uh, found you unconscious on the side of a street. You were... not in the best condition."_

_"Oh."_

_"I'd ask what happened, but you just woke up. I don't want to overwhelm you," Logan said, his eyes moving to the crisp white blanket covering Kendall. "How are you feeling?"_

_"Like I got hit by a truck," Kendall responded honestly._

_The hold Logan had on his hand tightened as he looked him in the eye, tears starting to spill down his cheeks. "I was so scared, Kendall. I thought you were dead," he said, whispering the last sentence._

I wish I was _, Kendall thought, but he forced a smile for Logan's sake and squeezed his hand in an attempt to comfort him. "I wouldn't leave you that easily," he whispered, feeling choked up all of a sudden. Seeing Logan like this was making him want to cry, too. "I'm sorry, Logie. I didn't mean to scare you."_

_Logan chuckled, but it was a humorless chuckle. "You shouldn't be apologizing, you did nothing wrong. I'm just so glad you woke up... The doctors didn't know if you would." He paused and sucked in a breath before continuing. "Apparently whoever did this to you, beat you up so badly that you were practically almost dead when we found you. They-they lost you on the way to the hospital. It was only for a few seconds, but... you could've died."_

_"But I'm here," Kendall said softly. He reached up with his hand, cupping it around Logan's face. "I'm alive," he whispered. "I'm okay, and I'm not going anywhere."_


	18. Chapter 18

"Kendall?"

Kendall froze, suddenly feeling a hand land on his shoulder, shaking him awake. He hadn't even realized he had cried himself to sleep – hadn't even realized that someone had walked into his room until that very moment.

"Hey, you okay?"

Officer Garcia took his hand off Kendall's shoulder as Kendall shakily moved to sit up in bed. He had been having a nightmare, one of those that feels so real that even when you wake up, you have a hard time registering it. He was still shaken up by it. It was hard not to be, when what was going on in the nightmare had once been his reality.

"Y-yeah," he said shakily, pulling his knees up to his chest so that Carlos' father could take a seat on the bed.

"You sure? You're shaking," he said, his eyes full of concern. "Is something wrong?"

"No, it's just—" He gulped, feeling tears start to prick at the corners of his eyes. "It was just a nightmare."

"About?"

"Him..." he whispered, his eyes suddenly going from afraid to hopeful as he looked up at his godfather. "Did you... Did you arrest him?"

Officer Garcia opened his mouth as if to say something, but no words came out. What was he supposed to say to Kendall? He knew he couldn't lie to him, but how was he supposed to tell him that his father – the man who had abused him for years – was nowhere to be found?

"Kendall, I..."

"What's wrong?"

He knew that voice; it was the kind of voice people used when they wanted to say something but were afraid of doing so. He had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. Something wasn't right.

"Please... What aren't you telling me?"

"We... we couldn't find him."

" _What?_ "

Officer Garcia shifted where he sat, moving so that he was now looking straight at Kendall, who looked absolutely terrified. "When we went to his apartment, he wasn't there. We're not sure where he is. We looked everywhere around here, searched every floor, the pool area, any place we thought he might've gone to, but we haven't been able to find him."

Kendall sat still for a moment, trying to understand what it was that he had just been told, but it all just wouldn't make sense in his mind.

"I... I don't understand... How could he just— How could he just disappear?! He couldn't have! He can't!" He felt like someone was choking him, because he couldn't breathe. Everything around him was crumbling to pieces. He thought things couldn't get any worse, and yet, they just had. "I can't... I can't do this!"

"Kendall, it's going to be okay—"

"No it's _not_! Things are _never_ going to be okay!"

He couldn't believe this. He thought he had gotten rid of the monster from his past years ago. He thought he was gone for good, out of his life, never to be seen again. He thought he was safe; that he would never be able to hurt him again.

He thought wrong.

"Kendall, we will figure this out. We will find him. We won't let him hurt you."

Kendall shook his head vigorously, tears rolling down his cheeks and dripping down his chin and onto the fabric of his shirt. "Don't you get it?" he choked out. "He already _is_ hurting me..."

Before Carlos' dad could say anything in response, the door opened and in came James, with Logan and Carlos following quietly behind him.

"What's going on?" James questioned, his eyes traveling to Kendall's tear-stained face. "Are you okay?"

"I told him," Officer Garcia said as he placed a hand on Kendall's shoulder, causing the blond to look in his direction. "Son, we'll find him, I promise. Even if I have to search every inch of this earth to find him, I will."

"Bitters doesn't know where he went?" Carlos asked.

His father shook his head. "No, but I have a team looking for him, so don't worry too much about it, alright?" He then turned to Kendall, giving him a small smile of reassurance. "If I find out anything, I'll call first thing."

"Okay... thank you."

"I'm just doing my job," he said as he pulled Kendall in for a hug, "keeping you safe."

"Thank you, papi." Carlos smiled gratefully at his dad, who had now pulled away from Kendall and was headed in the direction of the bedroom door. "Please do call if anything happens."

"I will," his father promised, returning the smile, before heading out the door.

"Are you alright?" Carlos asked once his dad had left. He plopped down on Kendall's bed and took his hands in his. "You can talk to us, you know."

Kendall hesitated before answering, his fingers tightening around Carlos' hands. "He just... he won't leave." He looked up at Carlos, and then at their intertwined fingers. He felt a bit better knowing people were out looking for his father, but the fear and uneasiness was still there. "No matter what I do, he always finds me... some way, somehow..."

"He'll go away, hermanito," Carlos whispered, his eyes brimming with tears as he stared at Kendall. It hurt to see him like this. It hurt to know that someone who was supposed to love him had hurt him in unimaginable ways. "Eventually, he'll go away."

"But... what if he never does? Or, what if he does and then comes back again? What then?"

"You can't think like that, Kendall." This time, it was James who had spoken as he sat down on the edge of the bed and placed a hand on Kendall's lap.

"I can't help it," Kendall murmured as he let go of Carlos' hands and wrapped his arms around himself. "After everything he did to me... everything that's happened... it's hard not to think that way. It's hard to stay optimistic about things."

* * *

That night, Kendall couldn't sleep. He spent it tossing and turning, while Logan slept soundly on the bed on the other side of the room. Carlos and James had offered to stay with them, as to make sure that Kendall would be okay, but he had refused. He didn't want his friends worrying about him 24/7.

It was practically the crack of dawn when his eyelids finally started to drop with tiredness. The minute he actually started to drift into sleep, though, was the minute he was back at his old house, with his father looming over him.

His breathing started to pick up, soft cries of help slipping past his lips involuntarily.

From the other side of the room, Logan was awoken to the sound of Kendall crying out, his legs kicking this way and that as he tried to fight off an invisible force.

"Kendall?" He got up in such a hurry that he almost tripped over his own blanket and landed face-first on the floor. He was able to catch himself on time, though, and rushed to Kendall's side, trying to decide what to do. He didn't want to scare him, but he also didn't want him to be stuck in the nightmare any longer.

"Kendall? Hey, it's Logan. Come on, buddy, I need you to wake up."

He reached for Kendall, with the intention of shaking him awake, but as soon as he tried to, Kendall cried out, causing Logan to step back.

"Please don't hurt me!"

He tried a different tactic – going to the other side of the bed and kneeling beside his best friend. "I'm not going to hurt you," he said softly, keeping his hands by his sides. "You're safe here. No one's going to hurt you here. You're okay."

To his surprise, whispering words of comfort did the trick, and eventually, Kendall awoke in a daze. He gasped for air as he lay frozen in bed, his eyes blown wide, unmoving.

"Hey."

He jumped, his gaze immediately turning to Logan. As soon as his eyes laid on his best friend, the tears started to gather in them.

"Logie..."

Logan moved and took a seat beside Kendall, taken by surprise as he shot up in bed and threw himself at him.

"Hey, it's okay." He wrapped his arms around the trembling teen, pulling Kendall even closer. "It's okay, Ken, you're okay."

"It-it felt so real..."

"I know, I'm so sorry."

Kendall didn't say anything after that, his body going limp in Logan's hold. He was so tired, like he had been carrying the weight of a thousand bricks for hours. He wanted to sleep, become unaware of the world for a few hours, but even sleep couldn't get him out of this nightmare.

"Is there anything I can do...?"

"Stay," Kendall mumbled, his eyes closing shut as his head rested on Logan's shoulder. "Don't leave me..."

"I'll never leave you," Logan promised, tightening his hold on Kendall. He sighed as he allowed his eyes to drift shut, wondering how long it would be until things were okay again.

* * *

It was around seven in the morning when Carlos and James tip-toed into the room. Logan, who was sitting on his bed, fiddling with his laptop, looked up at them in surprise.

"Is he asleep...?"

Logan shook his head, closed his laptop, and set it to the side. He stood and walked towards the door, but not before whispering an "I'll be right back" in Kendall's direction. He then ushered the other boys to follow him.

"He's exhausted, but he can't sleep," Logan said once the door had been shut behind them. "He keeps having nightmares, and I'm not sure what to do..."

James and Carlos exchanged a worried look. They all knew they couldn't really do anything to stop Kendall from having nightmares. It had been the same way after his father had been put behind bars. The nightmares had gotten so bad that he couldn't sleep or eat, because it had all become too much.

"Maybe... maybe he needs to see someone again," James said slowly. "It helped last time."

"I'd like him to. I'm just not sure if he'll want to," Logan mumbled. "He was so hesitant before..."

"Maybe we should wait and see what happens first," Carlos suggested. "It's only been a few days, and the nightmares have probably returned because he knows he's close by."

"Yeah, I guess." Logan frowned, running a hand through his disheveled hair. "I just hope that they find him soon, because I don't know how much more he can take."

"Not much, that's for sure," Carlos said sadly. "But I know my dad will find him. He promised."

"I hope so," Logan said, looking doubtful. "I'm gonna make breakfast. Can you guys get him up? I know he probably won't want to, but..."

"Yeah, we'll get to that. Come on," James took ahold of Carlos' shoulders and turned him in the direction of the door

Logan watched them enter the room, before turning around and walking towards the kitchen.

* * *

"Kendall?" Carlos moved slowly towards Kendall's side of the room, stopping at the foot of his bed. "Hey, Logan's making breakfast. You should come."

No response.

"We know you're awake," James said, moving to pull back the covers, but he stopped as Carlos tapped his shoulder.

"Umm, James?"

"Yeah?"

"The window's open..."

James' eyes followed Carlos' gaze, where sure enough, the curtains were moving softly with the wind.

Logan and Kendall never opened their window.

It was in one swift motion that James pulled back Kendall's covers, his heart sinking when he found nothing underneath them.

"Oh no..."


	19. Chapter 19

"You say one word, and I hurt them. All three of them."

Kendall lay frozen, his mind having gone completely blank. He felt the panic start to take over, coursing through his body the way blood coursed through his veins. He wanted to scream, wanted to pry the hand clamped over his mouth away from his face, but he didn't. He couldn't. Not if he wanted to keep them safe.

"Now, you're gonna come with me quietly, do you hear me?"

He didn't move, his father's words not having made sense in his mind.

"I said, do you _hear_ _me_?"

Another hand came to rest against his neck, squeezing mercilessly.

He nodded, knowing he had no other option.

He was pulled up into a sitting position and then hoisted to his feet. He stumbled, having lost his balance in the rush of it all, and grunted as he was pushed towards his open bedroom window.

Tears sprung to his eyes, but he didn't let them fall. He refused to cry in front of him, he refused to show weakness. This man, he had taken so much from him. Too much.

He did as he was told, following every direction, until he found himself standing in front of an old, black SUV. Behind him, his father was standing, the muzzle of the gun in his hand digging into Kendall's back. "Now, I'm going to tie you up and you will not refuse, got it?"

Kendall nodded, following the other man until they were standing in front of the van's rear compartment."

"Now, get inside."

* * *

"Umm, James?"

"Yeah?"

"The window's open..."

James' eyes followed Carlos' gaze, where sure enough, the curtains were moving slowly with the wind.

Logan and Kendall never opened their window.

It was in one swift motion that James pulled back Kendall's covers, his heart sinking when he found nothing underneath them.

"Oh no..."

He turned to Carlos, eyes glazed over with fear.

"James..."

"Call Logan."

Carlos ran out of the room without another word, his feet pounding against the wooden floor before he skidded to a stop in the kitchen, by the stove.

"Logan..."

"What is it, Carlos?" Logan didn't look up as he moved his hand to turn on the stove.

"K-Kendall's gone."

"What?" Logan's hand froze in mid-air, his eyes now locked on the terrified expression on Carlos' face. "What are you talking about?"

"Kendall... he's gone."

"Did you check the bathroom?" Logan looked panicked, but he tried to remain calm as he started the walk to his room.

"No, but the window was open."

"The window's open?"

He pushed his bedroom door open, only to find Kendall's bed completely empty. James was in the room, but he had one leg over the windowsill and was in the process of climbing out.

"James, what are you doing?!"

"What does it _look_ like I'm doing?"

"You can't just go looking for him!"

"Then what else am I supposed to do? Stand around, while Kendall is off, who knows where? He could be with him." Bile threatened to rise up his throat at the thought. "Oh God, what if he's with him?!"

"James, get back in here."

"No."

"James!"

"No!"

"James, I swear to God."

"I should call my dad." Carlos rushed out of the room in search of his phone, not waiting for anyone to say anything in response. He was shaking from head to toe, the thought of what James had said now present in his mind. They had told Kendall he'd be safe, they told him that _monster_ would never come anywhere near him again.

What if he had?

He made his way to his room in a daze, clutching his phone in his hand as soon as he found it laying on his desk. He took one ragged breath as he speed-dialed his dad and waited for an answer. He waited anxiously, but it rang once, twice, three times, and before he knew it, the call had gone to voicemail.

"Papi..." His voice caught in his throat, tears clouding his vision. "Please call me as soon as you get this. Kendall... he's gone. We think his d-dad might've taken him... So please just... get back to me as soon as possible." He pressed the "end call" button on his phone and locked it, before stuffing it in his pants pocket.

"Did you call your dad?" Logan asked once Carlos had entered the room.

Carlos nodded as he took a seat on Logan's bed, unable to stay standing up much longer. It felt like his legs were going to give out from underneath him. "He didn't answer, though, so I left a voicemail."

"We should call the police," James said from where he was now standing by the window, no longer trying to get out. Logan had no doubt knocked some sense into him.

"I don't know if they'd do anything, though," Logan said. "They usually wait twenty-four hours before they take action."

"We could still report it, though, couldn't we?" Carlos asked, his voice hopeful. "We could convince them to do something. Like James said, we can't just stand here and do nothing."

"Yeah, we can." Logan sighed, running a hand through his hair in frustration. "I'll call them."

"No, _I_ will." James took his phone from his hand before Logan could even protest. "I'd be way better at convincing them than you would."

Logan sent a glare in his direction but said nothing as he sat down by Carlos' side. He crossed his arms over his chest, his hands clamping into fists. He was so angry. He wasn't the kind of person to get angry or lose his temper, but the thought of Kendall's father taking him against his will had him seeing red.

He listened as James dialed the police's number and talked to them, his heart drumming in his chest. He was hoping they'd do something, but he doubted they would. Not yet, anyway.

"Well?" Carlos asked, once James had hung up.

James shook his head, his hands flying up to tug at his hair. "They said it's too early to tell, that Kendall could've run away, that his dad taking him was unlikely."

Carlos frowned. "They're supposed to help us."

"It's not that easy, Los." Logan sighed, rising to his feet. "Try calling your dad again. Maybe he can do something."

Carlos nodded and reached for his phone, doing as he'd been told. The hopeful look in his eyes vanished as the call went straight to voicemail again. "Damn it. What are we gonna do?"

"Wait," Logan said. "That's all we can do."

"We... we promised him!" Carlos' voice wavered as he stood as well, now face to face with Logan. "We promised him this wouldn't happen again! We lied to him, Logan!"

"We don't know _where_ he is, Carlos. For all we know, the police could be right. He could have left on his own."

"Are you serious right now?" Carlos' voice rose with anger. "Are you serious?"

"What?"

"Kendall, leaving on his own? Leaving without telling us where he was going? You really think he would do that?"

"He could have panicked. You know how he is."

"Kendall doesn't panic."

"He does when it comes to one of us getting hurt." Logan turned to James, his eyes landing on the bruise covering his right eye. "He thinks James got hurt because of him. He might've been scared one of us would get hurt again, and decided to leave before it happened."

"He wouldn't just leave," Carlos said stubbornly. "He would've at least left a note or something."

"I'm just saying, he _could_ have."

"And I'm saying _he didn't_."

* * *

"Get inside."

Kendall didn't move. He stood his ground, which he found was not a good decision, as he heard a small click, followed by the muzzle of the gun digging harder into his back. He was shaking, his breathing labored.

"Do as I say or I shoot you—" His father paused, seeing as his words had no effect on him— "along with them."

"Leave them alone." It was the first time he had spoken, but his voice was clear, not showcasing the fear he was feeling. "Don't hurt them."

"Then do as I say," his father repeated. "Get. Inside."

Kendall let out a shaky breath, forcibly moving his feet until he was sitting inside the vehicle. Once he was inside, his father grabbed a rope and tied his ankles together, followed by his wrists, and then he duct-taped his mouth shut.

Kendall didn't put up a fight, because even though he wanted to, he wasn't about to give him a reason to hurt his best friends – his _brothers_. He'd never forgive himself if it happened again.

He watched as the man in front of him grabbed a rag from his pocket, along with a bottle of what Kendall assumed was chloroform. His body tensed as he watched it being uncapped.

It wasn't long before the rag, which was now soaked in the liquid, was being pressed against his nose. He kicked out as he felt the drug starting to take effect, but it was useless.

Within minutes, black dots started to run around in his vision, soon enough taking over completely, until he knew nothing of the world around him.


	20. Chapter 20

He awoke in a daze, disoriented, and with no recollection of where he was. His head was throbbing, sending shockwaves of pain soaring throughout his skull. A small groan escaped his lips as he attempted to force his eyes to open, only the small task was close to impossible to fulfill. His eyelids felt like they weighted a thousand pounds each.

Getting his eyes to crack open was a struggle all on its own, but forcing himself not to panic when he awoke to nothing but darkness proved to be even more difficult.

Despite the fact that he couldn't see anything in front of him, he could feel his head spinning. He tried standing, once having realized that he was sitting down, but his legs wouldn't budge. He then tried his arms, but they were tied tightly behind his back, around what he assumed was a chair.

_Where am I?_

_What's happening?_

He opened his mouth with the intention of saying his thoughts out loud, but nothing came out. He tried again, and again, until finally, the words came spilling from his lips.

"Is anyone there?!" He coughed, his throat feeling like someone had forced him to swallow sand at some point. "Where am I?!"

That's when he heard a click, followed by the sound of a door being pushed open. Light came flooding into the room, confirming what he had previously assumed — his legs were tied to a wooden chair's legs, while his arms were tied behind him.

A man stood at the doorway, but Kendall was unable to make out his features due to the lack of light in the room.

"Well, well, well, look who finally decided to wake up."

A chill ran through his whole body, leaving him breathless. He recognized that voice. He recognized that mocking tone. It was the same voice that had shouted insults at him for over five years straight; the same voice that had haunted him in his dreams for even longer than that.

It was his father. Except the person standing just a few feet in front of him was someone that didn't deserve that title. He was someone who had hurt him, damaged him to the point that he had even considered taking his own life. He had taken everything from him, _everything_. He may have been part of the reason he was born, but he would never actually be a father figure to him.

As the past couple of hours started flooding back into Kendall's mind, the man before him started to take the few steps towards him. And even though Kendall wanted nothing more than to run away from him, he was unable to. All he could do was watch in utter terror as he got closer and closer, until he was kneeling right in front of him.

"Look at you. You've grown so much," he said as he reached forward, his fingers holding on to Kendall's chin.

"W-Why am I here?"

"Why do you think?" The man sneered, his hold on Kendall loosening. "I want revenge."

"Revenge?" If it wasn't for how terrified he was, Kendall would have laughed at the older man's words. "Revenge for what?"

Without warning, his father took ahold of a handful of Kendall's hair and tugged it back, hard. "Wanna say that again?"

It took Kendall a couple of seconds to register what had just happened, but as the question managed to register in his brain, he shook his head. It took all his willpower not to scream out in pain due to how hard his hair was being tugged back.

"That's what I thought."

The hold loosened as his father stood back on both feet, his gaze never leaving Kendall.

"But, since you seem to not remember what you did, perhaps I should remind you..."

Kendall gulped, the hairs on the back of his neck standing up as the other man started to slowly pace in front of him.

"It was four years ago, more or less," he said, a hand coming to rest against his chin in a thinking manner, "when I was taken to jail, because of _you_."

Kendall's eyes diverted to the ground at the last word, his hair matted to his forehead as beads of sweat started to collect there.

"So was this whole moving to LA thing just your way of trying to get away from me?"

"N-No."

"Were you really stupid enough to think that I wouldn't find you when your name is displayed pretty much everywhere?"

Kendall said nothing. He was shaking, his stomach churning as the small contents inside it threatened to make a reappearance. The truth was, he hadn't moved to LA with the intent of getting as far away from his father as possible — he had moved to LA to make James' dream come true. But he'd be lying if he said that there wasn't a small part of him that felt relieved at knowing that there would be a thousand miles between them.

The man in front of him laughed, his laughter echoing across the empty space surrounding them. "Of course you were. Stupid, foolish, little piece of shit you always were. You always will be."

"No."

"What?"

Kendall glared as he opened his mouth again, his lips trembling as he struggled to say the words out loud. "I said no."

Kendall flinched as his father's hand went flying up a second later, as if ready to swing forward and strike him in the face. His shoulders tensed as he hunched over, trying to hide his face the best he could, even though the task was practically impossible. With his hands tied behind his back, there was no way for him to shield his face against his father's blows. There was no way for him to defend himself. He couldn't kick out, he couldn't reach out and pry the man's hands away from him.

"You can't even defend yourself," his father said, as if having read his mind. He then leaned closer toward Kendall, leaving him no time to register what was happening before something cold was being pressed against his neck. A knife.

"Say something like that again, and I swear, you will regret it," he said.

Kendall didn't dare move as the knife was lifted to his cheek and glided across it, digging slightly into his skin. He barely registered the pain, didn't even take notice of the blood rolling down his cheek until he felt something wet and warm land on the base of his neck.

Without another word, his father turned around and walked out the door, shutting it closed behind him. Darkness enveloped him once again.

Though now that he thought about it, it had never truly left to begin with.

* * *

"Logan, maybe you should sit down."

James watched as Logan paced back and forth in between his and Kendall's beds, his arms pulled tightly to his chest. He had been pacing for over five minutes now, not having said a word to either him or Carlos within that time.

From the corner of his eye, he glanced at Carlos, who was sitting on Kendall's bed with his eyes trained on a photograph on Kendall's nightstand. James didn't have to be facing the photograph to know what was on it. It was a photo of all four of them from before they had left to Los Angeles. It had been taken by Mrs. Knight right after they had won a hockey game. In it, they were all smiling — Logan was sitting on Kendall's shoulders, while Carlos was on James', and the two boys were each holding up the trophy they had won with one hand.

They had all been so happy after that game.

Now James wished more than anything that he could go back to that day, even if it meant no longer being in LA.

"Logan," James said again, this time in firmer tone. When Logan paid no mind to him and continued pacing, he stood from where had been sitting on Logan's bed and moved to stand in front of him.

"What?" Logan questioned, raising his head slightly to look up at James.

"You should sit down," James said as he took ahold of Logan's shoulders and pushed him back towards the empty bed. Logan looked hesitant but plopped down on the bed nonetheless, his shoulders slumping in defeat.

"What... What are we gonna do, James?" Logan was hunched over, so James couldn't make out the expression on his face. But judging by the tone of despair wrapped around every word, James was sure he was in the verge of tears.

"I don't know," James said honestly, his own shoulders slumping as he moved to take a seat in front of Logan on the floor. "I honestly don't even know if there's anything we can— Carlos?"

James and Logan both looked up as they heard a sniffle coming from Kendall's bed. Sure enough, as they turned to look at Carlos, his hands were covering his face, as if to hide the fact that he was crying.

"Los," James whispered as he stood back up and took the few steps to Kendall's bed. He sat down beside Carlos, wrapped an arm around his shoulders, and pulled him towards his side. Being in desperate need of comfort, Carlos wrapped both of his arms around James' neck and buried his head against the crook of it. "We'll find him, Los. We will," James tried to reassure him.

He glanced at Logan, who was still sitting on his bed, fidgeting with his hands nervously. "Logie, come on," he said, reaching with an arm towards the brunet.

Logan rose from the bed on shaking legs, struggling to even move them to take the few steps towards James and Carlos.

He collapsed on the bed a second later, his body rigid as James pulled him closer with his free arm. He could hear James speaking, but he wasn't listening. He couldn't focus, couldn't think straight, could barely even breathe.

Their worlds were crumbling to pieces, and they had little to no hope left.

But then Carlos' phone started to ring.

* * *

"I brought something for you."

Kendall stared down at the floor, the sound of footsteps echoing in his ears once the door of whatever room he had been locked in swung open.

He felt the slap before he even had a chance to look up, the pain soaring across his face as his head snapped to the right. He bit back the urge to cry out in pain, the tears in his eyes gathering but not falling.

"Look at me when I'm talking to you."

Kendall took in a ragged breath, his head slowly moving so that he was now looking up at the man in front of him.

"Now," his father dragged out the word as he pulled something out of his pocket. Kendall tensed up, until he realized that the object that he was taking out was a phone and not the knife he had previously showed him. "As I was saying, I have something to show you."

Kendall didn't know what this "something" was, but he had a feeling he didn't want to find out.

He anxiously watched as his father pressed several buttons on the phone's screen, and then lowered the phone so Kendall could see what was on it.

Kendall could've sworn his heart stopped beating as he took in the image in front of him. It was a picture of a woman and a little girl, tied to chairs much like he was, and he recognized them instantly. He didn't move, didn't speak as five words were repeated over and over in his head like a mantra.

_He has mom and Katie._


	21. Chapter 21

Even after Kendall's father had been locked behind bars, there had been countless nights in which he had awakened screaming, in a cold sweat, and unaware of his surroundings. These nights were the worst. They were the nights in which he would relive the nightmare his father had put him through – the beatings and the pain that seemed to be never-ending.

These nights were the ones in which his mother would run into his room, frantic and scared, with Katie walking slowly behind her, her eyes wide with fear. She would then sit on the edge of his bed and try to coax him out of his panic-filled state, out of the darkness that seemed to grab onto him with an iron grip.

It never really worked.

After a while, he _would_ calm down. Sometimes it would take a few minutes, perhaps even close to an hour, but eventually, his sobs would quiet down to whimpers and his breathing would even out.

But the pain never truly stopped.

It lingered in the back of his mind and would creep up on him from time to time. Most of the time it would happen in the middle of the night, but other times it would happen when he didn't expect it to – like when him and his friends were playing and would throw playful banter at each other, or when his mom would get upset and speak a little too loudly, causing him to cower back in fear. It was little things like that that would set him off and cause him to feel ashamed, even though he had been told before that it was normal for him to feel that way.

Then there were the nightmares that didn't involve him getting hurt, but rather his loved ones. His best friends, his mom and little sister getting hurt, especially. Those were the ones that truly struck him to the core.

The fear of his loved ones getting hurt was what had kept him quiet for so long. It was the reason he could not, under any circumstance, be honest about the fact that his father was abusing him for years.

Now, as he stared at the picture that was being displayed to him through his father's cellphone screen, his heart plummeted to his stomach. He felt as if everything around him had come to a complete stop. He stared at the picture, blinking several times, hoping that if he did that, the picture would eventually vanish from his sight. But it was still there, every single time.

He gulped, his throat feeling as if someone had forced him to swallow sand, as he stared up at the man standing in front of him. Anger boiled in his veins as he bit hard on his bottom lip, his hands forming into fists on either side of him.

"Where are they?" he asked, his voice wavering as he stared up at his father. As the man's lips tugged upwards into a smile, Kendall's blood boiled. "Where. Are. They?" he asked once more, this time his tone harsher than the first time he had spoken the words out loud. The fear that he had been feeling for himself just minutes before had now turned into fear for his little sister and his mother, as well as anger. Anger over the fact that this man had now gone after his family – after two of the most important people in his life. Anger because he was now smiling, as if this was all just some silly game to him, while it was tearing Kendall up on the inside.

The smile on his father's face vanished as he stood, locking his phone and stuffing it back into his pocket. He shrugged as he started rocking back and forth on the heels of his feet. "That's none of your business," he said angrily.

"It _is_ my business!" Kendall yelled, no longer being able to hide the anger in his voice or caring about what would happen if he talked back to his father. "They're my family!"

"So am I."

Kendall scoffed, his nails digging into the heels of his hands as he tightened his fists. "No you're not," he said angrily. "You never have been. You _never_ will be."

Pain enveloped him only a second after the words had slipped past his lips. He closed his eyes tightly, biting hard on his bottom lip in an attempt to not cry out loud. It took him a moment to realize that his father had kicked him in the stomach, succeeding in knocking the air right out of him. He could feel the tears gathering in his eyes, but he held them back. He wasn't about to give his father the satisfaction of seeing him cry because of him.

"Never speak to me like that again. Do you hear me?"

Kendall nodded through the pain. His eyes were still closed tightly. He had a feeling that if he opened them the tears would come pouring out immediately, so doing that was definitely not a good idea.

"Now..." His father paused. Even with his eyes closed, Kendall could tell that he was smiling. "I have a proposal for you."

Hearing this, Kendall's eyes snapped open, though they remained glued to the floor as his father continued to speak. "I'll let them go _if_ you do what I tell you."

Even though Kendall already had a feeling that he wasn't going to like whatever it was that he was going to have to do, he looked up, his full attention now on the man before him. "I'll do anything," he said, his stomach churning at his own words. "Just please let them go."

He didn't care if he was begging anymore. He didn't care about what he was going to have to do. All he wanted was for Katie and his mom to be home. He wanted them to be safe and away from harm's way.

"I want to take a video of you," his father said as he started pacing around the room, "which I am going to send to your little friends. In it, I want you to tell them that I won't let you go unless they give me a million dollars."

"Will you?"

"What?"

"Will you let me go?" Kendall asked, slumping in his seat.

His father grinned as he came to a stop in front of him, causing Kendall to lean as far back into his seat as he possibly could. "That's for me to know and you to find out."

Kendall blinked up at him, his mouth shut tightly in a line. He watched as his father turned in his heels and walked back in the direction of the door.

"Wait," he said as his father stood near the door that led into the room, his hand on the door handle. "How do I know you'll let my mom and Katie go? For all I know, you could just be saying that without actually meaning it."

"I guess you'll just have to trust me."

Not even five seconds later, he was alone again, which he was glad about because being in the presence of his father made him want to throw up. His head slumped forward as a sob managed to make its way up his throat. He blinked rapidly, but his eyes were soon stinging, and no later than that, his cheeks had grown damp.

This was all his fault. If it wasn't for him, his mother and sister would not have gotten kidnapped. If it wasn't for him, none of this would have happened. He hated himself. He hated that this was his life – that for whatever reason, his father hated him so much that he wanted to make his life hell, and he had succeeded.

He didn't understand why this was happening, or why any of this had happened to begin with. He knew his father hated him – he had made it very clear to him on countless occasions. Whether it was through verbally telling him that he'd never wanted him, or through physically harming him, he had made the message loud and clear for Kendall.

He wasn't wanted.

He wasn't loved.

He was nothing.

* * *

Logan was pacing back and forth again, so much so that James wouldn't have been surprised if he were to create a hole into the wooden floor because of it. He watched him from where he sat on Logan's bed, his legs pulled up to his chest, back leaning against the headboard.

Carlos was sitting beside him, with his phone still pressed against his ear. James' gaze would move from Logan to Carlos, and then back to Logan, as he awaited to hear what Carlos' dad had to say about what had happened. He could only hope and pray that they would find Kendall soon, alive and unharmed, though he had a feeling that was too much to ask for.

"What did he say?" he asked as soon as he saw Carlos lower his phone onto his lap.

"They'll be here in a few minutes," Carlos said in a soft tone, turning his head towards him, "to see if there's any kind of evidence that will lead them to find Kendall."

James nodded, pulling his bottom lip in between his teeth. He had a feeling they wouldn't find Kendall as soon as he was hoping for.

"I hate this."

It was Logan who had spoken this time as he plopped down on his bed in between the two of them.

"They'll find him," James said, reaching over and placing a hand on Logan's shoulder.

Logan turned towards him then, eyes red and puffy, mouth slightly open as he tried to speak, but it was as if the words got caught in his throat, leaving him unable to say them out loud.

"They will," James insisted, already knowing what it was that Logan had been wanting to say. _You don't know that_. He could practically hear the words in Logan's voice echoing in his head. And it was true — he didn't know that. He didn't know anything, none of them did.

"I should've never left him alone."

"Logan, no." Carlos scooted closer towards Logan, bringing one arm to wrap around his shoulders. "This is _not_ your fault."

"But it is!" Logan shouted as he shrugged Carlos' arm away and stood back on both feet. "If I hadn't left him alone, he'd probably still be here."

"If you hadn't left Kendall alone, he probably would've taken you, too," James pointed out.

"But maybe I could have done something! Maybe I could have stopped him!"

"Logan..."

"No!" By now, Logan was pulling at his hair and he looked as if he was ready to burst into tears. "I promised him I'd never leave him," he whispered, blinking rapidly. "I... I broke that promise."

Carlos opened his mouth to speak, but as he did so, the doorbell rang. He looked back towards the bedroom's entrance, and then to James and Logan. "That must be my dad," he said quietly as he stood. "It's not your fault," he told Logan, looking him in the eye, before walking out of the room.

Logan stared after him, and then lowered himself onto his bed slowly, moving so that he was sitting beside James.

"It's not," James whispered, even though he knew that their words probably did little to convince Logan.

"I just hate this whole thing," Logan said quietly. "I just want him to be home. I just want him to be safe."

"I know," James said as he pulled Logan closer with one arm. "He will be soon."

James and Logan both looked up as Carlos walked back into the room, followed closely behind by his dad and an officer from the LA police department.

"I'm so sorry, boys," Officer Garcia said as he stood in front of them. His voice was soft and filled with sorrow. "I promise, we will do everything we can to find him." He looked at all three of them as he said this.

"If anyone can find him, it's you, Papi," Carlos said as he stared up at his dad.

Officer Garcia smiled softly, but the smile on his face was gone almost instantly. "I'm gonna have to ask you guys a few questions, though, regarding what happened."

"Okay."

They all watched as Officer Garcia pulled a small notepad from his pocket, along with a pen.

"Alright, so what happened exactly?"

Logan let out a shuddery breath, realizing he was the one who would have to do most of the talking, since he was the last one to be with Kendall.

"We're not really sure," he said. "He had nightmares most of the night, so neither of us really managed to get much sleep. It was around seven when Carlos and James came into the room, so I... I walked out of the room to talk to them and shut the door behind me."

"Then we came into the room," Carlos said, gesturing towards himself and James, "but he was gone."

"Did you notice anything odd?" Officer Garcia asked as he wrote something down on his notepad.

"The window was open," Carlos responded. "That's when I knew something was off, because Logan and Kendall never open the window. Logan hates it."

"Is that the only thing that was off?"

"As far as we could tell," James said.

"Do you think it's possible Kendall could've left on his own?"

"I thought that at first," Logan said, "but I'm not so sure anymore. Carlos said he would've at least left us a note, and I think he would have. Kendall's not careless. He would've thought about doing that."

Officer Garcia nodded, understanding where the boys were coming from. "We need to search the room. Would you boys mind stepping out for a bit?"

James, Carlos and Logan looked at each other, before the three of them got up one by one.

"We'll find him," Carlos' dad promised as he noticed the worried expression displayed on the boys' faces.

Logan was pulled into a hug by Officer Garcia just as James and Carlos walked towards the bedroom doorway. "Please do," he whispered with tears in his eyes. "Please bring him home."

* * *

"Are you ready?"

Kendall swallowed thickly as his father walked back into the room, his shoes echoing in the otherwise quiet room. He watched with tired eyes as the other man flicked a switch that was near the door, filling the room in dim lighting, and shut the door behind him. In his hand was a camera, which Kendall assumed he was going to use to record him.

He nodded slowly, even though he was anything but ready.

"Alright, so this is how this is gonna go." His father smiled down at him, causing Kendall's stomach to churn. "You're going to look into the camera and explain what I told you. You're going to tell them that I want a million dollars in cash, by Sunday, or I'm not letting you go, ever."

"But Sunday's only two days away," Kendall pointed out. "There's no way—"

"That's not my problem."

There was no way James, Carlos and Logan would be able to get a million dollars in two days. No way. It was too much money and he knew it, and his father probably did, too.

"Why..." Kendall blinked back tears, turning his gaze to the floor. "Why are you doing this?"

"I already told you why."

"Mom and Katie did nothing to you! I don't... I don't understand why you're doing this to them. You could've taken me, _only me_. You didn't have to bring them into this!"

His father only continued to smile as he lifted the camera, aiming it in Kendall's direction. "If you don't stop talking back to me, I will never let any of you go," he said through gritted teeth. "Now do as I say, before I change my mind."

Kendall bit on his bottom lip, hard, until he tasted copper. He looked up at the camera, his eyes suddenly filling with tears of anger.

He watched as his father turned the camera on, and it wasn't until then that he spoke again, his voice shaky, eyes teary, and heart heavy.

Once it was all over, his father left once again, only this time, he left the light on. For a moment, Kendall sat hunched over, his head hanging forward, expecting him to return. But after a few minutes passed and that didn't happen, he lifted his head to look around the room. The room wasn't that big, maybe only a bit bigger than his bedroom at home. On the walls on either side of him were boxes stacked up together. He searched the walls for a window or any other kind of opening that he could escape from, but there was none. As far as he could tell, there was only the door in front of him, which he could not escape from, since his father would lock it every time he walked out of the room. Not to mention that his legs were tied to the chairs' legs, and his wrists were locked in place to the arms of the chair. There was no way he'd be able to leave on his own.

Then there was the issue with his mother and sister. He didn't know what would happen if he were to somehow escape. He had no idea where they were, so finding them would surely be a struggle, unless they were in the same place he was. But he didn't know that for sure, and he wasn't about to risk them getting hurt because of him.

Not again. Not if he could help it.


	22. Chapter 22

The first thing Kendall noticed when his eyes cracked open was that the light in the room he was in was no longer on. The room was surrounded by total darkness, which, for a minute, caused his breathing to pick up and his heart to start pounding at least twice as fast as normal.

Then, everything came flooding back and it all got so much worse.

He felt a cold shiver run through his spine as the memories from earlier made their way back into his mind. He felt the ropes dig into his wrists as he tugged and pulled at them, his breathing coming out in sharp, deep gasps that made him feel like he was rapidly running out of oxygen. He couldn't see his surroundings, but he could feel the room spinning and was sure that if it wasn't for the ropes keeping him in place, he would have dived headfirst into the pavement below his feet. Bile threatened to rise up his throat, but he swallowed it down and did his best to calm his racing heart. He couldn't panic – not here. He didn't know where his father was, but if he was to hear him, he was sure he would regret it.

As if on cue, he heard the sudden click of the door in front of him and straightened up quickly, swallowing back a whimper of fear. He watched like a deer caught in headlights as the door slowly opened to reveal a shadow standing in the middle of the doorway.

"I see you're awake," the person spoke, but to his surprise the voice did not belong to his father. He didn't know whether to be relieved or not; wasn't sure if this was a good thing or a bad one. All he knew was that he didn't want to be here. He wished more than anything that he was back home with Katie, his mom and his friends, or even at the studio, having a petty argument with Gustavo, while Kelly tried to calm them down. Really, anything would be better than this.

Without warning, there was a soft click, which Kendall presumed was the light switch, as light flooded the room a millisecond later. He closed his eyes tightly, not having expected that, and only opened them again when it no longer felt like the light was digging into his retinas. That is when he saw him.

The man stood at about 6'5" with a pale complexion, dark brown hair, and icy blue eyes that caused Kendall's stomach to drop. He had broad shoulders, and Kendall didn't doubt that this person could knock him out in a matter of seconds if he wanted to. He felt himself cower back in fear, his back pressed tightly against the back of the chair, until it almost felt like the chair would tip over.

"Who-who are you?" he asked, his throat feeling raw and dry as he spoke for the first time in what felt like forever.

The man grinned, took the few steps to reach Kendall, and just stood there for a few seconds, towering over him. "Name's Trey," he said in this deep voice that reminded Kendall too much of a student from the Palm Woods' school, named Ozzy, who used to bully Logan. "And I," he said as he inched his way closer to Kendall, "work for your father."

Kendall raised an eyebrow at him but didn't say anything, too afraid of what would happen if he did. His eyes grew wide as the man kneeled down in front of him and started to untie the ropes around his ankles. Though he desperately wanted to kick the guy's face in, he stopped himself from doing so and watched as he started to work on the ropes around his wrists as well.

"Where are you taking me?" he asked before he could stop himself, fear almost paralyzing him as Trey's blue eyes stared up at him.

"None of your business."

"But–"

"Look, kid." Trey sighed loudly, his nails suddenly digging into Kendall's skin. "We can do this the easy way, or we can do this the hard way. It's your decision."

Kendall didn't say anything, didn't even make a sound as the man's grip tightened. A moment later, the ropes around his wrists were untied too, no longer tied to the chair's arms. He almost sighed in relief, but it wasn't long before Trey grabbed one of the ropes and used it to tie both of his wrists together like handcuffs. Not even ten seconds after that was done, he was forced to stand on both feet, his legs feeling like gelatin as he tried to keep his balance.

He felt a hand wrap tightly around a fistful of his hair and held back a scream as he was shoved forward. For a moment, his feet did slip away from underneath him and he was almost sent crumpling to the floor, but before that could happen, Trey caught him.

"Walk." The hand was back at the nape of his neck, causing a shiver to run through Kendall's body. All he managed in response was a nod of his head before he started to walk forward, praying his feet wouldn't give out from underneath him once again.

"Hurry. I don't have all day," Trey hissed into his ear and tugged at his hair, hard.

This time, Kendall did cry out, his eyes scrunching up tightly as he waited for Trey to release it.

"You wouldn't want to make your daddy angry, would you?"

Kendall's stomach twisted up at those words, not only because he was afraid of what his father would do if he were to make him angry, but also because he was suddenly hit with the realization that he hadn't called his father "daddy" in years. And now, looking back on his younger self, he could not fathom it. He couldn't recall a time in which he felt genuine admiration for his father; could not recall a time in which he wasn't completely paralyzed by fear on the inside whenever his father was near. His heart ached, as if someone had suddenly taken it into their hand and started to squeeze it mercilessly, sharp nails digging into it. He felt tears well up in his eyes, his surroundings morphing together to create unrecognizable blurs of color.

Without warning, his body lurched forward and he heaved as if he was about to throw up, but nothing came out. Everything around him was spinning, even as he closed his eyes shut. He didn't register when his knees gave out, but he did feel the soaring pain that travelled up his legs as they collided with the pavement. His hands instinctively reached out in front of him, in a futile attempt to stop the fall. He breathed out sharply, and then tried to inhale a huge gulp of air.

Why did it suddenly feel like he was seven years old again; helpless, alone and terrified out of his mind?

"Get up."

Kendall looked up, into the eyes of the man in front of him and did nothing.

"I said, get up!" This time the shout that came from Trey was followed by a hit that caused Kendall's head to snap back, a groan slipping past his lips. It took him a moment to realize that Trey had punched him, right underneath his left eye. He reached up with his tied hands to touch the sore spot, but before he could do that, Trey took ahold of his arm and hauled him to his feet.

His feet practically dragged against the floor as he was pulled out of the room and, to Kendall's surprise, into a hallway. The hallway was very dimly-lit, with only one small yellow lightbulb in the middle of it. To the left of it there were two doors, one of which was open and one that was closed. To the right, there was only one at the end of the hall, which happened to be right in front of the one that was open.

"Move."

Kendall felt Trey's warm breath against his face and felt himself go stiff. His brain was screaming at him to move, to run, to do _something_ , but his feet remained glued to the floor underneath them.

Letting out an exasperated sigh, Trey pulled Kendall along once again and did not stop until they were in front of the closed door at the end of the hallway. Trey kept a strong grip on Kendall with one hand as he dug around in his pants pocket for what Kendall presumed was a key.

As Trey finally fished out the key and started unlocking the door, Kendall's eyes traveled to the other room. From what he could see, it looked like an office, as there was a desk in his line of vision and the light was turned on – much brighter than the one in the room he had previously been locked in.

Without warning, Trey shoved him forward, but just before the door was shut behind them, he caught sight of dark blond hair and green eyes.

* * *

"Mama Knight is still not answering," James said as he took a seat on the couch and ran a hand through his hair. "It keeps going straight to voicemail."

"Have you tried Katie?" Carlos asked, joining him. "Maybe she'll answer."

"Maybe," James said quietly and looked down at the phone in his hand. "Let me try." He looked through his contacts in search of Katie's number, clicked on it, and then raised the phone to his ear. For a moment his expression looked hopeful, but it wasn't long-lasting.

"What's wrong?" Carlos moved closer to him and put a hand on his shoulder.

James just shook his head and tossed his phone to the empty spot beside him. "Voicemail," he said quietly, before he let his head fall into his hands.

"Something's not right here," Logan spoke from the other section of the couch, his eyes staring off into space.

" _Nothing_ is right here," James said in frustration.

"He probably has them too," Carlos whispered to himself and drew his knees up to his chest. He then looked up at Logan, his eyes filling with tears. "What are we going to do?"

"I don't know." Logan's voice wavered and he did not look at Carlos. His hands were clasped tightly on his lap, but from where Carlos was sitting, he could still see them shaking. Then suddenly, a pained look took over his features and he shakily got to his feet. Before Carlos could ask if he was okay, Logan had bolted out of the room and in the direction of the bathroom.

Carlos turned to James then, and realized he was staring in the direction in which Logan had disappeared to.

"I'll go check on him," was all James said.

"I'll come with you."

James opened his mouth, as if to protest, but closed it before any words could come out. They both rose to their feet at the same time and headed towards the bathroom, where they found Logan dry-heaving into the toilet.

"Logie?" Carlos knelt down beside him, his hand running small circles against Logan's back. "Logan." The tears were back, only this time, they were rolling down his face freely, dampening his cheeks. "I'm-I'm sorry."

At Carlos' apology, Logan looked up, his bottom lip trembling and eyes glassy. "Not your fault," he managed to say as he sat down on the bathroom floor, looking absolutely miserable.

"Are you okay?" James asked as he stood over the two of them.

From where he sat, Logan nodded, not looking up. "Yeah, I just… I just don't feel great."

"Come on." James stretched out a hand, which Logan took gratefully, still feeling a bit unsteady on his feet. He then stretched out the other to Carlos, who was hunched over, his back quivering as he tried to steady his breathing. When Carlos made no move to take it, James let go of Logan – after making sure he wouldn't topple over if left on his own – and pulled Carlos up by his underarms, a look of worry appearing on his face when he had to hold up most of Carlos' weight.

"Come on, Litos," he whispered into his ear, maneuvering the both of them in the direction of the living room.

After forcing Logan to lie down on the couch, he took a seat along with Carlos, Logan's head on James' lap.

"I feel so helpless." Logan suddenly sat up, pulling the orange blanket James had handed him just minutes before around his shoulders. "Just knowing that Kendall's in danger, and possibly Mama Knight, too, and Katie… and knowing that we can't actually _do_ anything."

"We called my dad," Carlos said quietly from beside James, his eyes shifting between the two boys.

"I know that, but… it's not the same, you know?"

Carlos sighed, his body slumping against the couch cushions. "Yeah, I know."

"Maybe we could–"

Whatever it was that James was about to say was cut off by the sudden beeping of a cellphone nearby.

"That's my phone," Logan said and stood up, pulling the blanket along with him. He found his cellphone on the kitchen counter and returned, his eyebrows scrunched up together as he looked down at the screen. "It's a message from an unknown number."

"Aren't you going to open it?" Carlos asked.

"Wait!" James stood up abruptly and snatched the phone from Logan's hand. "I don't think that's such a good idea."

"Why not?" Logan asked in confusion.

"It could be Kendall's dad," James said, his finger hovering over the message. "I don't know if we should open it."

"But what if it's about Kendall?" Carlos asked, rising to his feet. Before James could step away, Carlos had taken the phone and clicked on the message. James and Logan both watched as a look of dread came to Carlos' face.

"What is it?" Logan asked, unsure if he wanted to hear the answer.

"It's a video."

"A video?" James questioned, feeling his heart plummet to his stomach. "Don't play it."

"But–"

"Carlos, I mean it."

Carlos frowned but handed the phone back to James. "What should we do, then?"

"Show it to your dad."

"He's right," Logan said. "We don't know what's in it, and considering the circumstances, it probably is from Kendall's father. Maybe he can trace it and figure out where they are."

"I don't see why that means we can't open the video…"

"It's better we don't," James said, even though like Carlos, he wanted to know what was in it. He locked the phone before he could change his mind and placed it on the coffee table in front of them. "Nobody touches it until Carlos' dad gets back from the station, got it?"

Beside him, Logan and Carlos both nodded without a word.

* * *

"I see you've met Trey." Kendall's father smiled as he entered the room, his hands hidden behind his back. "Trey, you are dismissed. I'll take it from here," he said, his footsteps echoing around the room as he neared Kendall.

Unlike in the other room, Kendall was no longer tied to a chair, but Trey had made sure to tie his ankles together after forcing him to the ground. Kendall wasn't really sure this was any better than before; the ropes were still digging into his skin, causing it to feel like it was burning.

Once Trey had exited the room, Mr. Knight crouched down in front of Kendall, pulling out what it was that he had been holding behind his back the whole time. It was a brown Burger King paper bag. Kendall scrunched up his nose at the sight of it, but his stomach growled in hunger.

"I brought you a little something," his father said, before pulling out a burger from the bag, as well as some fries. "I figured you'd be hungry by now."

Kendall glared at the bag, and then for a moment at the man in front of him. "I want nothing from you," he managed through gritted teeth, his hands forming into fists in front of him.

The smile on his father's face vanished and was instead replaced by a scowl in the matter of a second. "But you will," he said certainly. "Just you wait."

Kendall said nothing in response to that, just continued to glare at his father despite the anxiety that seemed to be crushing him like a tidal wave. His head was throbbing, and his heart was pounding in his ears. He didn't know how, but he had managed to keep his breathing steady for the past couple of minutes, even though it felt like there wasn't enough air in the enclosed space.

The man in front of him seemed unphased by the look his son was giving him as he stuffed the burger and fries back into the bag. "I sent the video to your friends, by the way," he said after a moment, looking victorious at the look of horror that came onto Kendall's face at his words. "I don't think they'll be too pleased when they watch it."

"Leave them out of this," Kendall hissed, his nostrils flaring. "They've done nothing to you."

"That's where you're wrong." His father stood then and started pacing in front of him, his eyes not leaving Kendall's. "They are part of the reason I went to jail."

"They were kids!" Kendall shouted, his anger and protectiveness of his best friends taking over. "They didn't do anything!"

His father scoffed and shook his head. "You're such a foolish child if you really think I'll spare them," he said, his feet coming to a stop in front of Kendall. "And next time you're upset, you may want to keep your voice down."

Kendall was about to respond, when his father's boot-clad foot connected with his ribs, knocking him to a heap on the floor. The pain was unbearable, soaring up his entire body and completely knocking the air out of him. He stared up at his father with dazed eyes, his mouth open in what appeared to be a pained gasp, but no sound came out.

"Maybe that'll teach you a lesson," his father said, before turning around and exiting the room.


	23. Chapter 23

The edge of Kendall's vision was getting fuzzy, black dots dancing around, making it feel as though his head was spinning. For a moment, he just laid there, trying to catch his breath, but every time he tried to take in a gulp of air it felt like his insides were simultaneously catching on fire. He wanted to cry out, wanted to curl in on himself until he somehow vanished from existence, but he knew that he couldn't. And it was at that moment that he couldn't help but wonder if he would get out of this alive – if he would ever get to see the light of day again, or if he would die here, alone and forgotten.

Last time, he had been lucky. Perhaps "lucky" wasn't the right word, but he had survived, somehow, even though he was sure that he wouldn't. Now, it felt as if it had all been for nothing, because he was now wrapped around his father's finger once again. He was free to do whatever he wanted with him, and his father probably knew it, too. He knew Kendall's weaknesses; knew that as long as his friends and family were involved, Kendall would do just about anything to protect them and keep them out of harm's way, even if it meant getting himself hurt in the process.

The pain did not subside right away – it lingered and spread, a searing pain that seemed to run all along his body, leaving him with tears hidden behind closed eyelids. It felt like hours later when he finally managed to sit up despite the ache, his vision no longer feeling as hazy as before. His head still felt foggy, though. Heavier, somehow. It was hard to keep his head up. Any movement, big or small, felt like it took at least twice the effort it normally would have.

The room he was now in was bigger than the one he had previously been in, as well as emptier. Though only a very dim lightbulb hung from the ceiling, he could make out a couple of chairs off to his far left, near the wall, and what looked to be like a pile of rags in front of them. There was a window to his right, nearing the ceiling. It was much too high for him to reach, not that he could have, anyway, with his hands bound together.

Feeling defeated and hopeless, he laid back down and closed his eyes, hoping that by some miracle, he would be able to fall asleep. He knew that would not be the case, though. He was exhausted, that was for sure, but his mind swam with thoughts of Katie, of his mom, of his friends, and other people he held dear to his heart.

 _I'm never gonna see them again_ , he thought, a tightness forming in his throat. _I'm never gonna get to say goodbye_.

All of a sudden, he heard it – a faint sound, sort of like that of something moving nearby.

He straightened up with a start, looking around the room frantically, and that's when he saw it. The rags – or what he had assumed were rags at first – were moving.

He felt his heart jump to his throat, his hands growing sweaty as he stared in their direction.

"W-who's there?" he asked, not knowing whether to feel alarmed or relieved.

There was a small groan, followed by more movement, and it wasn't until then that Kendall realized that there definitely was a person in the room with him. He stared, open-mouthed, as he managed to catch a glimpse of the person's face, and felt relief wash over him.

" _Katie?_ "

Katie's eyelids flew open then, her big brown eyes meeting Kendall's.

"Katie! Oh my God, it _is_ you."

"Kendall?" Katie stared at him, with a look that Kendall was sure mirrored his own. Her eyes were wide open, shock written across every feature on her face. "K-Kendall." Her eyes filled with tears as she struggled to sit up, with both her legs and wrists tied together. "What-what are you doing here?"

Kendall's lips tugged downwards into a frown, his shoulders slumping. "Managed to get myself kidnapped, I guess," he said, his voice quiet. "Is Mom okay?" he asked, taking notice of the body lying to Katie's left.

As if suddenly having remembered her mother, Katie turned in her direction and attempted to shake her awake, tears spilling down her cheeks.

"I don't know," she said quietly. "Mom." She nudged her mother with her elbow, but the body beside hers remained limp. " _Mom._ " This time, her voice sounded thicker, more urgent. "She's not waking up," she said, turning to look at Kendall. "Why isn't she waking up?"

"Did he do something to the two of you?" Kendall asked, referring to his father.

"He gave us something to knock us out, I think. Everything's kind of fuzzy."

 _Probably chloroform_ , Kendall thought, but didn't voice this out loud to Katie. Instead, he struggled to push himself to his feet and made his way to where Katie was sitting, with her mom to her side. "She's breathing, right?"

"I-I think so," Katie said quietly as she stared down at her hands.

It was with a sinking feeling that Kendall took notice of the dried blood on her wrists. "Katie," he swallowed, frustrated by the fact that he couldn't pull her into his arms, "there's blood on your–"

"I know," Katie said with a shrug. "I was trying to pull myself free, but I couldn't. It's really tight."

"Let me try."

Katie extended her arms towards Kendall, who reached out with his own and tried pull at the ropes around her wrists, without much success. As Kendall gave the ropes a particularly hard pull, Katie cried out, causing Kendall to wince in surprise.

"Sorry." Kendall bit down on his bottom lip, letting his hands fall in front of him. "Are you okay?"

Katie nodded her head, tears stinging at her eyes. "Yeah, it just hurt."

"I'm sorry." Kendall's voice cracked, his hands shaking where they now rested on his lap. "You should've never been a part of this."

"You shouldn't have either," Katie said softly.

Kendall shook his head at this, his bangs falling in front of his eyes. "He wants to hurt me," he choked out. "That's why he's using you and Mom. He _knew_ that would hurt me."

"Yeah, but–"

What Katie was going to say was abruptly cut off as their mother started to stir beside them.

"Mom!"

It took a moment for their mother to regain full consciousness, but as soon as she did, she looked around frantically, first catching sight of Katie, and then of Kendall.

"Kendall, oh my God."

"Mom." His voice clogged with tears as he stared at his mother, who was trying to sit upright. Bruises and cuts littered her face, and the sight of them did nothing but cause Kendall's stomach to churn uncomfortably. "Mom, I'm sorry." He said the words so quietly that he was sure his mother hadn't even heard him. It was like every negative emotion he had felt within the past few days had suddenly resurfaced, and he could do nothing but let it happen.

"Baby, no." He watched as his mother's eyes filled with tears and only felt worse. It felt like someone had stuck a knife through his heart and was now twisting it in one direction, and then the other. "Kendall, listen to me," she said, looking him straight in the eye. "None of this is your fault. None of it, okay?"

He wanted to say that that wasn't true, that none of what had happened would have happened if it wasn't for him. But instead, he responded with a quiet "okay" and let his gaze fall to his lap.

"How did he get to you?" he asked after a moment, sensing the thick atmosphere in the room. Beside him, he felt his mother shift, as if trying to get into a comfortable position, and let out a sigh.

"The person that was supposed to take us to the airport from the Palm Woods… he works for him."

"Trey?"

His mother nodded. "Yeah, him." She paused then, her eyes landing briefly on Katie, who was now leaning against Kendall, her head pressed against his shoulder. Her eyes were only slightly open, her cheeks tinted a bright pink. For so long, Katie had been so independent, always acting so mature for someone her age. But at that moment, she looked so small and vulnerable – defeated, even. The realization of that made her heart hurt.

"So, he brought you here instead?"

His mother nodded. "Everything seemed fine at first, but when I realized we were going in a different direction, I brought it up. He-he threatened to kill us if we didn't do as he said."

Kendall felt his blood run cold, his body tensing up at his mother's words. "Do you think he meant it?"

"He had a gun with him," Mrs. Knight said and looked down. "I didn't want to find out."

* * *

"Thanks for the ride."

Pushing his hair back with his hand, Antonio stepped out of the police car and shut the door behind him. Seeing as he had no car, one of the officers from the Los Angeles police department had offered to give him a ride back to the Palm Woods, which is where he now stood.

He took his cellphone out from his jacket's pocket and turned the screen on, only to see he had no new messages from Carlos or any of the boys. He had gotten one from Carlos roughly twenty minutes ago, though, and in it, Carlos had told him that he might have something that would help with the investigation.

He couldn't believe that this was happening in the first place. He had thought that Kenneth would be locked in prison for many years to come. He never imagined that he would be released so early – not after beating up his own child and leaving him in the street, bloody and bruised, in the hopes that he would die.

He could still recall the way Kendall has reacted after the incident; the emptiness in his eyes, the fear embedded into him. Fear from trauma he could not erase from his mind.

* * *

" _Hey, buddy."_

_Antonio forced a smile onto his face as he walked into Kendall's hospital room, his feet feeling heavy as he made his way to where Kendall was lying on the hospital bed. He felt a knot form in his throat as he moved the chair near Kendall's bedside and took a seat. The feeling only intensified when Kendall flinched at the action, his eyes becoming teary. His heart felt heavy. For years, he and Kendall had been close. He had always been there to support him when his own father couldn't, or refused to, and suddenly it felt as if there was a rift between them._

" _It's okay," he said softly and pulled away from him as much as possible. "I'm not going to hurt you."_

" _I'm sorry." Kendall's eyes shifted to the white blanket covering his body, his fingers tightening around the material. "I didn't mean to. I just–"_

" _You don't have to apologize," Antonio said, trying to keep his voice calm and steady. "How are you feeling?"_

_Kendall opened his mouth to respond but closed it a second after, his vision getting blurry. "I-I don't know. I want to go home, but at the same time… I don't. What if he comes back? What if he hurts Mom and Katie? He can't hurt them. He can't. Please… please don't let him hurt them."_

" _He won't," Antonio reassured. "He's nowhere near them, and he never will be again. I promise you that."_

_At his words, Kendall seemed to relax a bit, but there was still fear behind those green eyes of his, and deep down, Antonio knew it wasn't something that wouldn't go away as easily as he hoped._

" _Kendall," he started as he looked into Kendall's eyes, his chest feeling tight, "I know you probably don't want to talk about it, but there are some questions I need to ask you."_

" _What-what kind of questions?" Kendall stammered, eyeing Antonio with a guarded look._

_Antonio bit on the inside of his cheek as he leaned forward, his hands resting on the bed but not touching Kendall. "Questions about what happened," he said slowly, watching as Kendall's body tensed up. "You don't have to describe it in full detail. I can just ask you some questions, and you can answer with a 'yes' or a 'no,' or a short answer, if one's needed. Is that okay?"_

_For a moment, Kendall remained unmoving, but then slowly nodded his head in response. "O-okay."_

" _Thank you," Antonio said, and then proceeded to take his notepad and pen out before beginning to ask the questions._

* * *

Antonio let out a heavy sigh as he got out of the elevator and started to make his way down to Apartment 2J. That had been almost five years ago, but the memory still felt fresh in his mind. Kendall had changed drastically after what his father did to him. He had retreated into himself, become more cautious of everyone around him. It was a painful realization, and one he tried not to think about. As a father himself, he could not fathom why someone would do such a thing to their own child. It was unforgiveable and inexcusable.

"Papi!" Carlos was the one to open the door when he finally made it to the apartment, his hair messy and sticking out in all different directions on his head. Antonio didn't even manage to get a word out before his son took ahold of his wrist and dragged him inside.

"What's going on, mijo? You said you had something to show me?"

"We think we might," Logan said as he came out of his room, his cellphone clutched in his hand. "I… I got a text."

"A text?" Antonio asked as he reached for the cellphone Logan was holding out to him.

"It's a video, from an unknown number," the boy said quietly, averting his eyes to the floor. "We didn't watch it, don't worry."

Antonio felt his stomach twist up in knots, dread washing over him. "Is that it?" he asked, noting the way Logan refused to look him in the eye.

"N-no," he said, his voice hardly a whisper. "There's also a photo."

"He sent a photo?" Carlos asked, eyeing Logan with a questioning look. "When? Why didn't you say anything?"

"It was after I took the phone to my room," he said, purposely avoiding looking at Carlos. "Shortly after. I-I didn't want you to see it."

"Why?" It was James who had asked the question, his voice wavering, as if he was afraid to hear the answer.

Logan was quiet for a moment – Antonio could practically see the wheels turning in his head. When he finally spoke, he looked ashen and fidgety.

"He has Katie and Mrs. Knight, too," he choked out before his eyes filled up with tears. Carlos and James stood frozen for a moment but were soon by Logan's side, their arms wrapped tightly around him.

Antonio felt unsteady on his feet as he passed by them, his hand landing briefly on Logan's shoulder to give it a squeeze. "We'll figure this out," he promised him, before making his way to the bathroom, stopping only when Carlos asked him where he was going.

"I'm just going to see what he sent," he said and closed the door behind him, not wanting the boys to hear whatever it was that was on the video.

Once inside, he sat on the edge of the bathtub, not trusting his own feet to hold him up. He looked at the phone, which he held in a shaking hand, and clicked on the message before he could think twice about it.

As soon as he did, he felt the air leave his lungs.

There _was_ a picture – a picture of Jennifer and Katie, both restrained with ropes, lying on a dirty-looking floor. They appeared to be unconscious, as their eyes were closed.

Taking in a gulp of air, he let his index finger hover over the video. He made sure the volume wasn't very loud and clicked play. He could practically feel his heart hammering in his chest as Kendall came into view of the camera, his arms and legs tied to the chair in which he sat. At first, his gaze was cast towards the ground, but about five seconds into the video, he looked up, causing Antonio's breath to catch in his throat.

The video was short, only about a minute and a half long, but by the time he was done watching it, all Antonio could see was red. A million dollars – that was what Kenneth was asking for in exchange for the freedom of Kendall, Katie and Jennifer. And to make things worse, the money had to be given to him by Sunday, which hardly gave them any time to gather it all, seeing as it was already Friday afternoon.

Stuffing the phone into his pocket, he stood up on wobbly legs and walked out of the bathroom and to the living room, where the boys sat, huddled together on the couch.

"Papi?" Carlos was the first to stand up, the expression on his face looking fearful as he moved to stand in front of his father. "What happened?"

Antonio pulled at the hair on the nape of his neck, swallowing to relieve the dryness in his throat. "He wants a million dollars," he said in a monotone voice. "A million dollars in exchange for Katie, Kendall and Jennifer."

"What if he's lying?" James asked, rising to his feet in an instant. "He lies! He lies about everything. What if we give him the money and he doesn't actually let them go?"

"That's a good point," Logan said from where he sat on the couch. "We can't trust him."

"I don't."

"And where are we even supposed to get a million dollars?"

"Maybe we could ask Gustavo."

"Or get it from our savings."

"We don't have _a million dollars_ , Carlos."

"Yeah, but–"

" _Guys_ ," Antonio cut Carlos off, and only continued to speak when all eyes were on him again, "we're not going to give him a million dollars."

"Then what are we going to do?" James asked. He looked flustered, his cheeks now tinted a rosy pink. "We _have_ to do something."

"And we will," Antonio promised him, "just not that."


	24. Chapter 24

"If we're not going to give him a million dollars, then _what_ are we going to do?" James asked in frustration. "He has Mama Knight, Katie and Kendall. We can't– We have to do _something_!"

"James." Antonio sighed, pressing two fingers against his temple, where a headache was surely beginning to form. "Just because we're not going to do as he says, does not mean we're not going to get them back," he said gently. "I'm going to try to track him, using the phone number he used to call Logan. There's a very good chance it might be a throw-away phone, since he probably does not want us to know where he is, but I'm going to try anyway."

"And if it is a throw-away phone?" Carlos asked. "Then what?"

"Then we figure something else out," Antonio told him. "And we _will_ figure something out," he added, taking in the crestfallen expression that appeared on Carlos' face.

"I hope so," Carlos said as he sat back on the couch, his head falling against the couch cushions, eyes closing shut. "I don't want them to die."

"Nobody is going to die."

"But they could," Logan choked out, his eyes already tearing up. "They could, if he doesn't get what he asked."

"We'll get to him before the time is up."

"How? We only have… two days," James said, his voice getting lower at the last two words. "I can't believe this is happening."

Beside him, Logan let out a small whimper, his shoulders quaking where he stood. Before anybody else could react, James had closed the gap between them and taken Logan into his arms. He felt Logan push against him for a few seconds, but eventually his body relaxed, and he buried his face against James' shoulder. It wasn't long before James felt his t-shirt start to become damp with tears.

Over Logan's shoulder, James looked at Antonio with pleading eyes.

"It's gonna be okay, mijo," Antonio said as he started to rub Logan's back gently. "Just leave it to me, okay?"

James felt Logan nod against his shoulder, his cries becoming quieter.

Behind them, Carlos watched, his muscles feeling too stiff to move. He felt as if he'd been struck by a mixture of fear and dread. Even though he wanted to, his legs would not budge from where they remained leaning against the couch, feet planted firmly on the ground.

"Do you guys have a computer I can borrow?" Antonio asked.

"I'll get mine," James said, and gently moved Logan away from him, since he seemed to be doing better than he was a minute ago. "I'll be right back," he told him, feeling guilty because of the way Logan was looking at him – with fear clouding his eyes, as if he was afraid that James would disappear too.

After taking one last look at Logan, and then at Carlos, he turned around and rushed to his bedroom, pushing the door open all the way. He was quick to grab his laptop from where it sat on his desk, and ran out of the room, with it gripped in between both hands.

"Here," he said, handing it to Antonio.

Antonio gave him a grateful smile and took the laptop from him, then walked to the island and took a seat on one of the barstools. "No password?" he asked as he opened it and pressed the ON switch.

"No," James said. Logan always kept reminding him to put a password on his laptop, in case it was to ever get stolen, but he'd never listened.

"Here, sit down," he told Logan, as he grabbed him by the shoulders and led him to the couch. Once Logan was seated, he took a seat in between him and Carlos, wrapping an arm around them both. "You okay, Los?" he asked, noticing the way Carlos seemed to be staring off into space. "Carlos?"

Carlos suddenly flinched, his head turning in his direction after a second. "What?"

"Are you okay?" James asked again, his fingers tightening around Carlos' arm. "You zoned out for a moment there."

"Oh." Carlos frowned and rose to his feet then, his gaze landing on his dad. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Okay," James said quietly, not fully believing Carlos, but not wanting to press any further either.

"Papi, what are you doing?" Carlos asked as he took a seat to his dad's right, eyeing the laptop that was now open, displaying Google. He watched as his dad clicked on some keys, before he turned to face him.

"Trying to track the number," Antonio said, before turning back to the laptop screen and Logan's phone that he had beside him, and typing away.

Carlos only hummed in response, letting his gaze drift to James and Logan, who were watching them where they sat. James' arm remained around Logan's shoulders, while Logan was leaning into the touch, his head resting on James.

"Dammit," Antonio muttered, a heavy sigh slipping past his lips.

"What?" Carlos asked, a frown coming to his face. "Did something happen?"

Antonio shook his head, closing the laptop shut. "Just as I thought, the number can't be tracked."

Carlos felt his heart sink at his dad's words. "So it's a throw-away phone?"

"Seems like it," Antonio said as he ran a hand through his dark black hair. "I'll have to figure out something else."

"Something like what?"

"I'm not sure," Antonio sighed.

That's when an idea dawned on Carlos.

"I might have something," he said slowly. "I just don't know if it'll work."

"Anything's worth a try at this point. What is it?"

Turning to James and Logan, Carlos stood up and moved to where they sat. "I was just thinking… Kelly has been able to track our phones several times. Maybe, if she tells us how she did it, we can track Katie's or Mama Knight's."

"That… could work," Logan said. "I'm not entirely sure how she does it, but I think she uses an app."

"We could call her and ask," James suggested.

"We haven't even told them yet," Logan said quietly, detaching himself from James. "They don't know."

"Might as well let them know now," James said as he took out his phone and started scrolling through his recent calls so that he could call Kelly's number. Once he found it, his finger hovered over the screen, and he lifted his head to meet Antonio's eyes. "Can we call them?"

Antonio nodded his head. "Yeah, that's fine. I'm not sure if we'll be able to track either of their phones, but as I said before, it's worth a try."

"Okay." Breathing in sharply, James clicked on Kelly's number and raised the phone to his ear. It rang a few times, before Kelly's voice came from the other end. "Hey, Kelly, it's James. There's something we need to talk about…"

* * *

" _He had a gun."_

Kendall felt nausea start to build in his stomach at his mom's words, his throat feeling as dry as sandpaper. He knew what his father was capable of; knew that he was capable of hurting him and hurting those around him, if he needed to. But the thought of him or Trey having a gun – a weapon that can very easily be used to kill someone – made him feel absolutely powerless and terrified.

"A gun?" he heard himself ask, knowing that he had heard correctly the first time, but hoping that he somehow hadn't.

Beside him, his mother nodded. "Yeah, a gun."

"Do you… Do you think he would have used it?"

"I don't know." Mrs. Knight shifted where she sat, struggling to get closer to her two children. "But it's best we don't give them a reason to use it."

"So what are we supposed to do?" Kendall asked, his throat feeling tight. "Just wait around for someone to come rescue us?"

"Of course not," his mother said, her voice turning to a whisper. "But I don't know what they're planning. And if we want to get out of here, we need to think long and hard about what we're going to do."

"I know what they're planning, sorta."

"Sorta?" Katie asked, raising her head from where it had been resting against his shoulder. "What is it?"

Remembering the video and the things his father had made him say, Kendall felt a shiver crawl down his spine. He couldn't imagine how his friends would react when they saw the video. He couldn't imagine being in their position.

"They want a million dollars," he said slowly, feeling like he might empty whatever was left in his stomach – which he assumed wasn't much – if he spoke too fast. "A million dollars by Sunday, or—"

He paused as he heard the familiar noise of keys trying to unlock a door, followed by the door in the room opening as Trey walked inside. He was humming an unfamiliar song under his breath as he turned to look at them, the scowl on his face turning into a sinister smile.

"Well, look who's finally awake," he said, eyeing Jennifer and Katie. "Took you long enough."

"They wouldn't have been unconscious if you hadn't drugged them," Kendall said through gritted teeth, moving in between Trey and Katie, so that he couldn't get to either of them.

"Did I ask for your opinion?" Trey glared down at him, and before Kendall could react, he had grabbed him by the front of his shirt and lifted him off the ground.

"Kendall!" Katie cried out, her voice echoing off the walls. "Leave him alone!"

"And why should I do that?" Trey asked, smiling at the fear-stricken expression on both Katie and Jennifer's faces.

"He hasn't done anything," Mrs. Knight said in a trembling voice. "Please, just let him go. Do whatever you want to me, but please don't hurt him."

Trey said nothing, but his grip on Kendall loosened and he went falling to the ground. He gasped for air as he landed on his side, hot tears building in his eyes from the pain that soared through his ribs. He closed his eyes when the room around him started spinning, causing him to feel all the more nauseous. They remained closed until he heard Katie's cry of "Mom!" as Trey hauled their mother to her feet and pushed her towards the door's entrance.

"Where—" he coughed, which did nothing to ease the pain in his rib cage. "Where are you taking her?!"

"Far away from you," Trey said, not even bothering to turn in his direction.

"Mom." Kendall's voice broke, his hands shaking. "Mom! Please, please don't take her."

"It's okay." His mother turned to look at him, her cheeks already damp. "I'll be okay."

"Move!"

"Mom!" Kendall's throat felt raw, his limbs weighing a hundred pounds. "Mom! Mom, please!"

His pleas went unanswered as Trey pushed his mom out of the room and the door locked behind them.

"Kendall." Katie moves uncomfortably where she sat, her eyes meeting his. They were red-rimmed with bags underneath them. Kendall had never seen his sister look so afraid in all his life. "Kendall, we have to do something."

"I don't know what to do," Kendall said, looking away. He couldn't bear to look into Katie's eyes for much longer. He knew that if he did, he would fall apart, and he didn't want to do that in front of her. "But we'll figure something out." He paused, blinking back tears. "We always do."

* * *

"Kelly! Can you call the dogs and ask them to come in later today? Griffin just called. He wants us to record a song by next Wednesday," Gustavo said as he plopped down on one of the couches that was in the Rocque Records' break room. In one hand, he held a clipboard with song lyrics that he had begun to work on. In the other, he had a mug with coffee.

He raised his head as Kelly came walking into the break room, a scowl on her face. "Why can't you call them?" she asked, taking a seat on the couch next to the one he occupied.

"Because they listen to you," he grumbled. "They never listen to me."

Kelly rolled her eyes but took out her phone. She was about to call Kendall's number, when her phone started vibrating in her hand. "Speak of the devil," she said, chuckling lightly. "James is calling."

"Hello?" she answered, raising the phone to her ear.

"Hey, Kelly, it's James. There's something we need to talk about…"

"What does he want?" Gustavo asked impatiently, leaning forward to try to hear the conversation.

Kelly raised a finger to her lips to silence him, her heart sinking at the tone in James' voice. "Is everything okay?"

She heard rustling in the background, followed by a heavy sigh. "I— no, not really. I don't know how to tell you this, but… Kendall's gone missing."

" _Missing?_ "

"Missing? What's missing? _Who's_ missing?"

Kelly sent a glare in Gustavo's direction, which caused the music producer to close his mouth. She distanced the phone from her ear and pressed the 'SPEAKER' button on her phone so that Gustavo could hear the rest of the conversation. "What do you mean he's missing?"

"It's… a long story. Too long to explain in full detail, but basically… his father took him." She heard James pause and inhale sharply. "His abusive father took him. He-he took Katie and Mrs. Knight, too."

 _Abusive_.

Kelly felt her blood run cold.

"What?" This time, it was Gustavo who had spoken. "James, what is going on?"

"Kendall's missing," James said, sounding slightly agitated. "It's only been a few hours, but—"

"Why would he take them?" Gustavo asked, taking the cellphone from Kelly's hand.

"Because… he wants to get back at Kendall."

"Get back at Kendall for what?"

James was quiet for a moment, but Gustavo and Kelly could hear quiet whispering in the background.

"James?" Kelly asked, her heart hammering in her chest. "What does he want to get back at Kendall for?"

"Hello?"

Kelly and Gustavo shared a look, having not recognized the new voice that came through the phone's speaker.

"Who's this?" Gustavo asked, holding the phone tighter in his hand.

"This is Antonio Garcia, Carlos' dad. I take it you're Gustavo?"

"Yes," Gustavo said. "Is James alright?"

"He's fine," Antonio said, "but at the moment we need Kelly's help, to help us try to track either Katie's or Jennifer's phone. Would you be able to meet us here soon? We can explain everything once you get here."

"Yeah, sure. We'll be there in about twenty minutes."

"Thank you. See you then."

And then, the line went dead.

* * *

"What happened?"

"What did they say?"

"Are they coming?"

Antonio handed the phone back to James, who was clutching Carlos' hand with one hand, his face having turned an ashen grey. He took a seat on the other side of the L-shaped couch, clasping his hands together in front of him.

"They said they'd be here in about twenty minutes," he informed them. "But until then, there's not much we can do."

"Are they going to help us track them?" Logan asked, sounding hopeful.

"I think so," Antonio said, his teeth digging into his lower lip. "But as I said before, there's no guarantee it will work."

"We know." Logan's eyes were glazed over, his palms pressed tightly against his jeans, to stop them from shaking, Antonio assumed.

"I'm sorry, boys," he said regretfully, feeling like he wasn't doing enough, even though he knew this wasn't something that could be easily solved in a few hours. "I really wish there was more we could do at the moment."

"We know you're trying, papi," Carlos said, his lips tugging up into a tight smile. "It's not your fault any of this is happening."

"I just can't believe that bastard was set free so soon."

"Sometimes people don't get the amount of jail time they rightfully deserve," James said as he rose to his feet. "I think I need to go lie down for a few minutes," he added, rubbing at his head. "I don't feel so well."

"Are you okay?" Logan asked, standing up as well. "Because if you feel sick—"

"I'm fine," James said, already moving in the direction of the bedrooms. "Let me know when Kelly and Gustavo get here?"

"We will," Carlos said, before walking to where James stood and pulling him into a hug.

Caught off guard, James returned the hug, beckoning Logan over with one hand.

Looking a bit hesitant, Logan took the few steps towards them and wrapped his arms around them both.

"We'll find him," Carlos said, despite the feeling of hopelessness that threatened to drag him under. "We'll all be together soon."

"I hope so," James mumbled, and then unwrapped his arms from around them and made his way towards his room.


	25. Chapter 25

"Kelly, can't you drive any faster?"

"I'm driving as fast as I can without breaking any traffic rules," Kelly said, breathing in sharply through her nose. Beside her, on the passenger seat of her car, Gustavo sat, arms crossed tightly in front of him as he looked out the window at the cars they passed. As the car came to a stop in front of a red light, she heard him let out a groan, followed by the sound of him turning in his seat.

"This traffic is terrible," he mumbled, pinching the bridge of his nose. "We're never going to get there."

"We'll be there soon," Kelly told him, doing her best not to sound exasperated. She was clutching the steering wheel tightly with both hands, her knuckles white from the force. "I can't believe this is even happening," she found herself saying a moment later, her eyes locked on the light up ahead. "I can't fathom why someone would do something like this."

Beside her, Gustavo was quiet for a moment, which made her think he hadn't heard her, until she felt his eyes on her.

"They'd never mentioned his dad before," he said quietly, which was so unlike him, since he was always being so loud and constantly yelling. "I just… I never thought…"

"Yeah, me either."

The car started moving again as the light turned green and a silence fell upon them once more, until they reached the Palm Woods. No sooner had she parked the car in the parking lot that they both slipped out and began making their way towards the Palm Woods entrance. Outside, the sun was out and the weather was warm. It seemed like a perfectly normal day – only it wasn't.

They quickly made their way inside the lobby, into an elevator and towards Apartment 2J. Kelly felt her stomach twist up in knots as they stood outside the door, one hand hesitantly raised to knock on it. She turned to Gustavo then, a frown upon her face, and noticed he wore a similar expression to the one she imagined she had on her face.

 _Here goes nothing_ , she thought, before knocking on the door three times. It took no time for the door to swing open and for a familiar face to appear on the doorway.

She heard a sob come from the boy standing in front of them, before he threw himself into Kelly's arms, and then into Gustavo's, catching him off-guard. She watched as Gustavo hugged him back awkwardly, and a moment later, the boy stepped back, looking even smaller than he usually did.

"Carlos," she said in a soft voice, reaching with a hand towards him. "Are you okay?"

With a trembling lip, Carlos stepped back, shaking his head from side to side. He opened his mouth, as if to respond, but instead another sob slipped past his lips. He stepped away from the doorway awkwardly, leaving enough room for them to step into the apartment. Inside, Logan was sitting on the couch, looking in their direction. James was nowhere to be seen, but a man that looked to be in his fifties was sitting beside Logan, a hand on the teen's shoulder.

"Hi, nice to meet you," he said as he stood, extending a hand for Kelly to take, and then Gustavo's. "I'm Antonio, Carlos' dad."

"Nice to meet you," Kelly found herself saying as he shook his hand with a gentle grip. "Kelly Wainwright."

"Gustavo Rocque," Gustavo said once it was his turn. "I– uh, what happened exactly?"

With a nod, Antonio motioned towards the couch, where Gustavo and Kelly then proceeded to take a seat. He then walked to where Carlos was standing, motionless, and whispered something in his ear. Carlos gave a small nod at this, and walked out of the living room and towards their bedrooms.

"He's getting James," Antonio said, taking the seat in front of them.

No sooner had he said this that Carlos and James walked into the living room, James trudging behind Carlos, his hair a tousled mess.

Kelly watched them from the corner of her eye.

James sent a small wave in Kelly and Gustavo's direction before taking a seat beside Logan and pulling Carlos along with him.

"As I mentioned before… Kendall's father took him, along with Jennifer and Katie. Jennifer and Katie had supposedly gone out of town, so we weren't aware that he had kidnapped them, until today. As for Kendall… he disappeared this morning, from his bedroom.

"Prior to all of this, Kenneth – Kendall's father – showed up at the apartment, demanding to see Kendall. When he didn't get to, he tried getting a hold of him, and he even tried moving into the Palm Woods, in order to be at a close proximity to him. This morning, however, Kendall disappeared from his bedroom, and—"

"Could he have ran away?" Gustavo said, interrupting Antonio.

Antonio shook his head, handing the phone over to Gustavo. "I wouldn't recommend watching it here," he said, eyeing the three boys huddled together beside him, "but Logan got a text from him– a video and some photos. He has them, and he's asking for a million dollars in exchange to let them go."

" _A million dollars?!_ "

Kelly cringed at the sound of Gustavo's voice. It was the first time he had yelled since they had found out about what had happened.

"Gustavo, calm down," she said, her hand moving to rest on his arm. "Just breathe," she told him, hoping that it would help, somehow.

She was sure Gustavo was about to yell again, when his eyes fell upon Carlos, James and Logan, who were sat, staring directly at him. They looked frozen in their spots, clutching at each other. Her heart tightened at the sight of them.

A frown fell upon his face, but he stood up with a start, one hand rubbing at the back of his neck. "We're gonna go watch the video," he said, turning to Kelly.

She rose with a sigh, offered the boys an apologetic look, and followed Gustavo towards the bathroom in the hallway. It wasn't until they were inside and the door had been closed behind them that he clicked play.

* * *

"We could try to escape."

"Escape?" Kendall raised an eyebrow at his sister, who nodded in response.

"We'd just have to get these things off our wrists first," she said, motioning to the ropes bounding her wrists together. "I could probably pick the lock."

"We have nothing to use to pick the lock, though."

"Actually… I should. I think I have a hairpin in my pocket."

"Katie, we can't do that. He'd… I don't even want to think about what he'd do if he were to catch us."

"We can't just sit by and do nothing," Katie said as she attempted to pull at the rope again. "He has Mom, and who knows what he'll do to her."

"I know." Kendall's voice was quiet, his eyes landing on Katie's wrists again. "You shouldn't do that. You're just gonna make them bleed even more. You could catch an infection. Let me try."

With a heavy sigh, Katie moved so that she was now sitting in front of Kendall, her knees bent at a weird angle. She extended her arms forward, gritting her teeth together as Kendall attempted to pull at the ropes without hurting her. It was impossible, though. The ropes were so tight from where she had pulled at them, that there was no way he could untie them without making it worse.

"What if you try untying mine?" Kendall said as he let go of the rope. "That might be easier."

"I could try." Katie looked uncertain, but she grabbed the rope around Kendall's wrists nonetheless and pulled at the knot.

"Just be careful not to make it tighter."

Katie nodded but said nothing, all her attention now on the task at hand.

"It's very tight," she said after about a minute of pulling at them. "I don't think I'll be able to untie it. Not like this."

"We'll have to think of something else," Kendall sighed, letting his hands fall to his lap.

"Just untie mine," Katie told him, pushing her hands towards him again.

"Katie, I don't want to hurt you."

"It's our only way out."

Looking hesitant, Kendall took Katie's hands in between his own, locking his gaze with hers. "Okay, but if it hurts too much you let me know, okay?"

"Okay."

And with that, he started to work on the rope, although getting it to budge was not easy, especially since he could barely move his own hands. He would stop every few seconds to look up at Katie, whose expression remained neutral for the most part, except for when he tugged tightly at the rope and her eyes would scrunch up in pain.

He wanted to stop, wanted to make all of this stop, but he knew they wouldn't be able to get out if he didn't manage to get Katie's wrists untied first.

It seemed like hours later when the rope finally let loose, and they both exhaled, both from surprise and relief. "Oh my God, I actually did it."

Katie grinned up at him and started working on trying to untie Kendall's wrists, which wasn't quite as hard as before, now that her hands were finally free.

Once the rope was loose enough, Kendall wiggled his hands out of the restraints, and then started untying the rope around Katie's ankles.

"We did it!" Katie whisper-shouted a few minutes later, standing up on wobbly feet. Kendall followed suit, and together, they made their way towards the door.

"Wait," Kendall said as he watched Katie stick her hand in her pocket to retrieve her hairpin. He then pressed his ear to the door, wanting to make sure there was no one on the other side. It wasn't until he was sure the coast was clear that he nodded in Katie's direction, and she pulled out her hairpin to stick inside the doorknob.

It was then that Kendall realized with a sinking feeling that they had no plan. He hadn't thought they'd make it this far, and he was sure Katie hadn't either.

"Katie, wait. We need to have some sort of plan."

"We find Mom. That's our plan."

"We can't just go out there, looking for Mom. We don't know where she could be. Not to mention that we don't know where they are." He knew he didn't have to specify who "they" were, as it was obvious the only other two people in the building besides their mother was their father and Trey – at least, to their knowledge.

"We'll figure it out once we find her," Katie said, her eyes widening as the door gave a soft click as it unlocked. She turned to Kendall then, her face looking ashen.

He swallowed hard, his hand on the doorknob. "We better move fast," he said, before opening the door and stepping foot outside, looking one way, and then the other. Outside, the hallway was empty, but he could hear Trey's voice coming from somewhere down the hall, to his left.

Ignoring the way his heart hammered in his chest, he took a hold of Katie's right hand and pulled her along, praying that they wouldn't get caught before they were able to find their mother and escape.

* * *

"Jennifer, Jennifer, Jennifer. Did you think I'd never find you again?"

She squirmed where she sat as his hand came into contact with her cheek and tried to look in the other direction. His hold on her tightened, though, as his fingers wrapped around her chin, forcing her to look him in the eye. She felt sick at the sight of him; wanted nothing more than to hurt him for what he had done to Kendall years ago.

"Answer me when I talk to you!" he yelled when he got no response from her, making her flinch.

"How-How did you get out of jail?" she stammered, pulling her lip in between her teeth.

He grinned as his hold on her loosened and stepped back, crossing his arms over his chest. "Behaving well can do wonders."

"You're a monster." The words slipped from her lips almost involuntarily. She didn't even get a chance to move away as he grabbed a fistful of her hair, yanking it back. Pain shot through her skull, and she opened her mouth to scream, but the only thing that came out was a gasp of surprise.

"The only monster here is you," he whispered, his face so close to hers that she could feel his warm breath on her ear. "A monster for allowing them to take me away."

His hold on her disappeared after a moment. She went to rub at her head, but as she did, he slapped her hand away and sent a glare in her direction.

"I want you to do something for me."

"I'm not doing anything for you."

"Really now?" He smirked and pulled out his cellphone then, scrolled through it for a few seconds, and then placed it on her lap. "I want you to call those stupid brats and tell them that everything is fine, but that if they don't hurry up with the money, bad things will start to happen."

She opened her mouth to respond, but he spoke before she could, as if having read her mind. "If you don't, Kendall and Katie die."

She swallowed hard, her hand trembling as she grabbed the phone and dialed the number on the screen. She immediately recognized it as Logan's.

She then pressed it to her ear, waiting as it rang, and inhaled sharply once it stopped. The voice that came from the other end was one she immediately recognized.

"Who's this?"

"An-Antonio." She felt tears well up in her eyes, the trembling in her hand intensifying. "It's– It's Jennifer."

"Jennifer, oh my God. Are you okay? Where are you?"

"I-I can't. I—"

The phone was all of a sudden snatched from her hand. She watched, with a sinking feeling, as Kenneth put the phone on speaker, his expression unreadable.

"Jennifer? Jen, is everything alright?"

"Hello, Antonio. It's been quite a while, hasn't it?"

There were a few seconds of silence before Antonio spoke again. "You bastard. What have you done to them?"

"Oh, nothing… yet."

"I don't believe that for a second."

"If you won't believe me, then ask Jennifer." The phone was then extended towards her. She looked at it for a moment, unsure of what to say, until she remembered Kenneth's threat from just a couple of minutes before.

"I'm-I'm fine, Antonio. Just… Please just hurry. If you don't… If you don't, he'll hurt us."

"Jennifer, listen, we're going to get you out of there, one way or another. I promise."

Without giving her a chance to respond, Kenneth took the phone off speaker, pressed it to his ear, and said, "The clock is ticking," before hanging up the phone.

* * *

Antonio stared at Logan's phone, feeling his blood begin to boil. He placed the phone back on the kitchen counter, and then turned to the group watching him, expecting him to say something.

"What happened?" Carlos asked, breaking the silence that has settled in the room. "Is Mama Knight okay?"

"I… I don't know." Antonio signed, running a hand through his hair. "She said she was, but I don't believe that. I think he made her say that." He moved to take a seat on the couch, letting his head fall into his hands.

"What did he say?" This time, it was James who had spoken.

"Not much, but we need to try tracking those phones, or else I don't know what we're going to do. Jennifer said that if we don't hurry, he'll hurt them."

"As if he hasn't already," James said with a roll of his eyes.

"Kelly, you said you had a way to track their phones?" Antonio asked, choosing to ignore James' comment.

Kelly nodded from where she sat next to Gustavo on the couch, Katie's laptop open in front of her. "I think so," she said as she started typing. "I can't guarantee it'll work, though. The GPS has to be turned on for us to be able to track it. If it's turned off, we won't be able to. It'll only let me track it up to the point it was turned on."

"I hope this works," Logan said, moving to sit beside Kelly. It was the first thing he had said in a while.

"Me too."

As they waited for Kelly to try to track the phones, Antonio moved to where Carlos was seated, head leaning against the couch's pillows, eyes locked on the ceiling.

"Hey, mijo," he said softly as to not startle him.

"Papi," he choked out, his lip quivering, "I'm scared." Carlos' voice was clogged with emotion, his eyes filling with tears in a matter of seconds.

"We're going to get him back," Antonio said, placing a hand on Carlos' knee to stop his leg from bouncing up and down. It was a nervous habit Carlos had – one he had had since he was very little.

"And if we don't?"

"We can't think like that."

Carlos nodded but looked unconvinced, so Antonio wrapped an arm around his shoulders, pulling him to his side.

"I think I got something," Kelly said, sounding hopeful. She turned the laptop to face them and pointed at the screen. "The GPS in Katie's phone has been turned off, it seems, but the last place where it was turned on was at a place that's about fifteen miles from here."

"That could be where he has them."

"We can't know for sure right now," Kelly said, "but it appears to be an abandoned building, so there's a chance it could be."

"I'll call the police department." Antonio rose to his feet, with Carlos following soon after.

"Can I go with you?"

"Absolutely not," Antonio said, looking at Carlos, and then at James and Logan. "The three of you are staying here."

"But, Papi—"

"I mean it, Carlos. I'll handle this, alright?"

"But—"

"You gotta trust me."

"I do," Carlos said, his gaze moving to the ground.

"Then trust me when I say I'll bring them home," Antonio said, clutching on to Carlos' shoulders.

"Okay." Carlos pressed his lips together, his shoulders relaxing. "But, Papi?"

"Yes?"

"Please be careful," he said, meeting his father's kind, warm brown eyes.

Antonio smiled softly, pulling Carlos into a hug. "I always am."


	26. Chapter 26

"Katie, wait!" Kendall whisper-shouted as they neared a corner. Katie, who had been walking closely behind him, stopped abruptly, lightly knocking into him.

"What happened?" she asked, but instead of answering her, Kendall held a finger to his lips.

He peeked his head around the corner just in time to see Trey walk out of a room and, to his relief, walk in the opposite direction of where they were. "Come on," he said, taking Katie's hand once Trey had turned a corner, and pulled her into the room he had walked out from. The room was small, with only a desk, a chair, and a lamp inside. Its walls were painted a light grey, though some of the paint had peeled off to reveal white paint underneath it.

"What are we doing in here?" Katie asked as Kendall walked around the desk and pulled open a drawer.

"Looking for our phones," he said, without looking up. "They're not in here, though. We should go."

Without waiting for Katie to respond, he guided her towards the entrance, before stepping in front of her to make sure Trey was nowhere in sight. Not hearing or seeing him anywhere, he stepped out of the room carefully, keeping a close eye on Katie as they walked along the wall.

"I wish we knew where they had Mom," Katie whispered behind him, clutching at his arm.

"Me too," he said, spotting another door not too far away. The door appeared to be closed, but there was light coming from inside it.

"Do you think that's where she is?" Katie asked, nodding in the door's direction.

"I don't know." Kendall swallowed hard, his throat feeling as dry as sandpaper. He looked around the hallway, noticing a room a few feet from where they were standing. "Come," he told Katie, pulling her along, until they were at the room's entrance. Unlike the other rooms, this one didn't have a door. It was a lot smaller, with shelves lining the walls, but they were empty. It appeared to be a closet – or it had been at one point, since the building they were in appeared to be practically empty.

"Katie," he said, as he pulled her into the enclosed space, "I need you to do something for me."

"What?" Katie asked, looking puzzled.

"Stay in here, okay?"

"What?"

"Stay in here. I'll go look for Mom, and once I find her, I'll come back and get you."

"Are you out of your mind? I'm not just going to stay in here and leave you alone!"

"It won't be for long—"

"I don't care. You're my brother."

"And you're my baby sister," Kendall said, feeling tears well up in his eyes. "I know you want to come with me, but I'd rather you stay here, hidden. I promise I'll be careful."

"Kendall." His name came out of Katie's mouth sounding more like a choked sob than a whisper. "I can't."

"You can," he said, reaching with both hands to wipe the tears that were starting to roll down Katie's cheeks. "And you will."

"But—"

"You have to." He closed his eyes and pulled her close, feeling her smaller arms wrap around him tightly. He could feel the vibrations of her sobs as she held onto him for dear life. It felt as if his heart was shattering into millions of pieces. "I'll come back," he said, as he pulled away.

"You have to promise me."

He nodded his head, his lips forming into a tight line. "I promise."

"Okay." Katie bit hard on her bottom lip, as if to stop herself from crying, and backed up against the wall, to where the shelves were. She sat down on the floor then, pulling her knees up to her chest, and stared up at Kendall.

"I love you," she whispered, reaching with a hand up to grasp his.

Kendall squeezed his fingers around it, brushing a tear away with his other hand before it could slide down his face. "I love you too, baby sister," he whispered back, before pulling his hand away and walking out of the room.

The room that had the light on was only a few feet away, but as much as he wanted to just go in there and see if his mom was inside, he knew he couldn't. He had a feeling that wherever his mom was, his father was too, and he didn't even want to think about what he would do if he were to find out he and Katie had escaped.

As he looked between the room Katie was in and the other room, he couldn't help but think they should have come up with a plan. He was always so good with plans. He was always the one that came up with schemes whenever his friends needed help with something, or whenever they wanted to pull some sort of prank, but this was different. This wasn't just for fun – this was life or death, and as much as he wanted to, he couldn't think clearly. His one goal was to get them all out of there without getting caught, but that was hard to do when he didn't even know where exactly his mom was. Not to mention that his father or Trey could appear at any moment, without a warning.

Just as he was thinking that, he heard the sound of footsteps coming from somewhere nearby. Not knowing what else to do, he took the couple of steps towards the room Katie was in and hid behind the wall, near the doorway.

"What happened?" Katie asked, but all he could do was press a finger to his lips as the sound of the footsteps got closer.

Katie's eyes grew wide, but she stayed silent where she sat.

From where he stood, Kendall could see outside the room slightly. He felt his blood run cold when a figure appeared just outside the room, stopping abruptly.

It was Trey.

"Shit," Trey said under his breath, his gaze cast downwards, at something he held in his hand. He then proceeded to walk, and soon, the sound of a door opening was heard, followed by Trey's voice, as well as his father's. He couldn't hear what they were saying at first, but it sounded like they were arguing about something.

"I told you to get rid of them after we got the numbers!" His father's booming voice could be heard just outside the room. "They could've tracked us, all because of your stupidity!"

"I'll get rid of them—"

"It might be too late for that now. We have to go."

"Go? But go where? There's nowhere for us to go."

"We can't stay here."

"But—"

"We're. Leaving. Now."

Their voices couldn't be heard after that, but the sound of shoes scraping against concrete flooring could be heard, though it seemed that the sound was getting farther away.

Taking one last glance at Katie, Kendall slowly peeked his head out, but his father and Trey could no longer be seen. Knowing he had no time to lose, he made his way towards the room with the light on and peeked inside. His heart stopped when he caught sight of his mom through the door's window.

Before he could think twice about what he was about to do, he pulled the door open and stepped inside, his heart pounding in his chest.

"Kendall?" His mom stared at him, her eyes wide open, as if she couldn't believe that he was actually standing there. "What–What are you doing here?"

"We have to go," was all Kendall said as he started untying the ropes that were around his mother's wrists, which were binding her to the arms of the chair she was sitting on. "They're going to take us somewhere else. I think they think someone might have tracked us here or something. We… We need to leave before they find us."

"Where's Katie?"

"Hiding in a closet," he responded, his hands shaking as he undid one of the ropes. He then moved on to the other, sighing in relief when it undid in a matter of seconds. "Let's go."

Keeping his eye on his mom, he blindly reached for the door, but before his hand could come into contact with it, he heard the sound of it turning and froze.

"Katie!"

He turned just in time to see Katie closing the door behind her.

"I think they know we're gone," she said, her eyes quickly moving from her mom to Kendall. "I don't think we can leave without them finding us. I-I… I'm scared."

Kendall felt sick. This wasn't how things were supposed to go. He knew that if his father found them, he would do much worse things to them.

"We should get out of here," he said, and opened the door. He made sure there was no one in the hallway before stepping aside so that his mom and Katie could step out.

Once they were all outside the room, the three of them quietly ran down the hallway, in the direction that was opposite to the one his father and Trey had gone in.

Kendall's head was pounding and his heart was racing. It felt like his lungs were on fire. He had no idea where they were headed, but he knew that they had to get out of there as soon as possible.

* * *

"How could you _not_ get rid of the phones?"

His blood was boiling. While he didn't know a lot about technology, since he had been imprisoned for eight years, he knew that the phones could be used to track them, which is why he had given Trey specific instructions to get rid of Kendall, Katie and Jennifer's phones. They had gotten all the numbers they needed, saved them to his phone, and Trey was supposed to dump them in a dumpster somewhere. He didn't care where, as long as it was far away from where they were. Nobody would ever guess they were in that warehouse. Not when it was so close to where the boys lived.

But of course, Trey couldn't even do that. He should have known better than to trust someone he had only known for a few months before he had been released from prison, but he was the only person he knew who could help him.

When he was sent to prison, he had lost contact with everyone he knew, not that he had many friends to begin with. The only people he saw on a regular basis were the other boys' parents, but of course, he couldn't even call them his friends. He would put on an act around them, act like the perfect father when they were watching him. But he knew that once he was released from prison, he wouldn't be able to fool them anymore, especially Antonio.

Antonio was the one who had turned him in. He was the person he despised the most, aside from Kendall, and if he could, he would make his life a living hell too. He just had to figure out a way to do it.

"I was going to, but then—"

He snapped his head in Trey's direction, annoyance clearly showing on his face. "But then _what_?"

Trey stared at him with his mouth open, but no more words slipped out.

"That's what I thought."

He gave Trey one last glare before reaching for his keys so that he could unlock the door of the room he had left Kendall and Katie in, but as they neared the door, he realized it was slightly open.

"Did you leave the door open?" he asked, turning to Trey, who gave him a confused look.

"No," he mumbled under his breath. "I locked it behind me."

Pushing Trey out of the way, he stormed into the room, only to find it completely empty. Kendall and Katie were gone.

"You idiot," he said through gritted teeth. "Where are they?"

Beside him, Trey's face grew ashen as his eyes roamed the room. "I… I don't know."

"Well, you better find out!" he shouted, causing Trey to cower back and out of the room.

If he wasn't angry before, he was now. He ran out of the room in a hurry, heading in the direction in which he and Trey had come from. When he turned the corner, he was surprised to catch a glimpse of Kendall before he could turn the corner that followed.

"Where do you think you're going?!" he shouted, letting his legs carry him as fast as they could to catch up with Kendall. For a moment, Kendall stood frozen, but then, to his surprise, he started running in his direction, colliding with him a moment later, knocking them both to the ground.

Kendall reached for his throat almost instantly, but just as his fingers began to tighten around it, Kenneth pushed Kendall to the ground. Before Kendall could move, he brought his fist back and then forward, striking him on the nose. The action caused Kendall's head to snap back, hitting the floor. He did it again, and again, and again, until Kendall's nose and mouth were oozing blood and his lip was split.

"Kendall!"

He turned just in time to see Katie and Jennifer running towards him, and that is when he pulled his gun out.

"Don't come any closer," he said, aiming it at them.

The two took a few steps back in surprise, causing a smirk to come to his face. "You come any closer," he warned, "and I'll shoot you."

"Leave her out of this," Jennifer said, venom dripping from every word that came out of her mouth as she pushed Katie behind her. "Leave them both out of this. They did nothing to you."

"Didn't they? He's the main reason I went to jail to begin with." He nodded towards Kendall, who laid unmoving on the floor. "And you," he said, pointing the gun in her direction. "You just let it happen."

His finger tightened over the gun's trigger. It would be so easy to kill her. To let Katie watch her bleed out, but that wasn't enough. If he wanted anyone to watch Jennifer bleed out, it was Kendall. He wanted the guilt to eat him alive, knowing that it was his fault his mother was dead.

But he _did_ want to hurt her.

Aiming the gun at her leg, he pulled the trigger. The shot rang through the hallway, just as Jennifer fell to the ground, Katie screaming in horror.

It was then that Trey appeared, his eyes landing on Jennifer and Katie, then on Kendall, and finally on Kenneth.

"The police are here," he said, getting Kenneth's attention.

He tore his eyes away from Jennifer to stare at him in shock. "What?"

"The police are here. I saw them through the cameras. They just got here. I-I think they're coming in through the front. We-We have to go."

He got up in an instant, pulling Kendall up along with him, and hauled him over his shoulder. "This is all your fault," he said, pushing Trey out of the way. "We're leaving."

"But what about—"

"Leave them," he said, looking back at Jennifer and Katie. Jennifer was now unconscious, but Katie had risen to her feet, her mother's blood coating her hands.

"Leave him alone!" she shouted, before throwing herself at her father. He was a lot quicker, though, and threw her against the wall, hard. He heard the sickening crack of her head hitting it, but he didn't bother to wait to see what would happen next. Instead, he tossed his car keys to Trey, and the two of them hurried down the hallway, leaving Katie and Jennifer behind.

As he stepped foot outside the building, the scorching heat greeted him, the brightness of the sun's rays blinding him for a moment. He followed Trey to where he had parked his car and threw Kendall into the backseat as soon as the doors had been unlocked. He then climbed in alongside him, screaming at Trey to hurry up and get them out of there before the police could find them.

It had been a good idea to park the car in the back, because that meant that the police would most likely not see them as they drove off. But just to make sure, he looked back as the car skidded away, but there was no sight of a police car anywhere.

A smile tugged at his lips as he looked down at Kendall, who now had dry blood coating his nose, lips and chin, some of it having slid down his neck and onto his white t-shirt. His eyes were now swollen, from where his fist had collided against them. The damage was nothing compared to the damage he had caused him when he was eight years old, but he would make sure that he paid for what he had done, one way or another.

"What are we going to do now?" Trey asked from the front, turning slightly in his seat to look back at him. "They're going to find us."

"Not without those stupid phones they won't."

"You don't know that that's the reason they found us."

"How else would they have found us?" he growled. "We left no clues. _I_ left no clues."

Trey stayed quiet for a moment, but it wasn't long before he spoke again, this time keeping his eyes on the road.

"Where are we even going to go?" he asked. "We have nothing. _Nowhere_."

"Look," he said, leaning forward so that the tip of his gun came into contact with Trey's temple. "Stop asking questions and just drive."

"Yeah, but—"

"Drive!"

Trey nodded his head frantically, stepping on the gas pedal.

Beside him, Kendall started to stir, so he grabbed a couple of tissues and a bottle of chloroform from the passenger's seat, and drenched them with it, before pressing it to Kendall's face.

For a moment, Kendall started to squirm in his seat, his hand coming up to remove the tissues, but the struggle only lasted for a few seconds.

Watching Kendall's head loll to the side, Kenneth grinned in satisfaction and placed his gun on his lap, just in case he needed it. After all, this was only the beginning.


	27. Chapter 27

"He's starting to wake up."

"Which is _why_ I told you to hurry."

"I'm going as fast as I can."

Kendall groaned as the voices got louder, not helping at all to lessen the headache that was causing his head to throb. He tried opening his eyes, but his eyelids felt like they were glued together, and when he tried opening his mouth to speak, all that managed to come out was another groan.

His mouth tasted like copper. He recognized the taste as blood in the back of his mind.

_Where was he? And who was talking so loudly?_

"Just tie him up to the chair. That way he won't be able to escape again."

"How did they even escape the first time?"

"Does it _look_ like I know?"

Kendall's eyes scrunched up tightly. He recognized those voices, especially that last one, but he couldn't think straight. His mind felt foggy and like it wasn't completely there.

"Is this tight enough?"

He felt a hand press against one of his wrists. "It should be, but make it even tighter, just to be sure."

He whimpered as he felt something digging into his wrist a moment later, then felt it again in his other one. He could hear the voices around him, but he couldn't fully understand what was going on. All he knew was that they were way too loud and all he wanted to do was succumb to the tiredness that seemed to be weighing him down.

"That should be good enough."

"Now what do we do? We can't just hide out in this motel forever."

"We're not going to."

Kendall squeezed his eyes tighter, wishing he could just curl in on himself and block out the voices. He licked at his dry lips, the taste of blood intensifying, and finally managed to pry his eyes open.

"You're awake."

His father was standing in front of him, a gun held in one hand. He felt himself tense up as his eyes fell upon it. He opened his mouth to say something, but his father chose that moment to place a finger under his chin, forcing him to look up.

"Look at me when I'm speaking to you."

His head was throbbing. Although his memory was foggy, the memories of what had happened just hours before were slowly starting to come back to him. He remembered fighting with his father, trying to distract him so that he would not shoot his mom and Katie.

_His mom and Katie._

"W-Whe—"

"If you're wondering where your mother and Katie are, they're not here."

 _Then where are they?_ he wanted to ask, but his lips wouldn't form the words he wanted to say.

"And they will no longer be an issue."

Kendall felt his blood run cold. _What the hell did he mean by that?_

"W-What?"

"You heard me." His father sneered, taking a seat on the bed in front of him. Kendall had been too preoccupied about where his mom and Katie were to notice it. "They're gone."

Kendall swallowed hard, feeling tears well up in his eyes.

Watching him closely, his father smiled, placing the gun on his lap. "They're dead."

He could have sworn the throbbing in his head stopped for a moment, the two words his father had spoken ringing in his ears over and over, causing the nausea that he was already feeling to become even worse.

"What?" The word came out as a whisper as he leaned forward, the ropes around his wrists digging into his skin.

His father smiled and stood, grabbing his gun as he did so. "They're dead," he repeated, the smile on his face growing as each second ticked by, "and there's nothing you can do about it now."

"No." Kendall felt a chill run up his spine, his whole body going tense. "No! You're lying!"

"I am not lying. Am I Trey?"

Kendall didn't even look in Trey's direction. He felt like he was going to be sick.

"He's not lying," Trey said, but Kendall wasn't listening to him. There was a pain in his chest that seemed to be getting stronger. It was only a matter of time before it consumed him completely, cutting him down until there was nothing left of him. His mom and his sister were dead. The two most important people in his life were _dead_ , and it was all his fault.

"No." He closed his eyes, his head shaking vigorously from side to side. _No. No, no, no. No._

"I told you to listen to me, but you didn't listen."

He could hear the smirk in his father's voice. Could feel him close, but he refused to open his eyes.

"Instead, you and your brat of a sister decided that trying to escape would be a good idea. Did you _really_ think you'd be able to outsmart me?"

Kendall didn't answer. He felt a sob claw its way up his throat, parting his lips only a second later. The tears came almost instantly, more sobs causing his body to quake where he sat, restrained, unable to escape.

He was trapped, and at this point, he wasn't even sure escaping was worth it anymore.

* * *

"It's been almost two hours," Carlos said as he watched the hands of the clock that was hanging on the wall move as each second ticked by. To say he was worried would have been an understatement. He couldn't stop looking at the clock or thinking about what might be happening with Kendall, Katie and their mom right now. His dad had sent him a text shortly after he had left, telling him that he'd call as soon as they had been found, but so far, his phone hadn't made one single sound.

"I'm sure he'll call soon," James told him and scooted closer to him on the couch, one arm looping over Carlos' shoulders.

"I hope so." Carlos sighed as he leaned further into James, his head resting against his shoulder.

Logan was seated on the floor in front of them, his head between his hands. He hadn't said anything in a while. He was just staring forward, with a blank expression on his face.

"Penny for your thoughts?" James asked, but Logan didn't immediately look up. "Logan?"

Slowly, Logan raised his head, blinking rapidly. "What?"

James unwrapped his arm from around Carlos and leaned forward, so that he was closer to Logan's eye level. "You've been quiet for a while. What have you been thinking about?"

"Nothing," Logan said and looked down.

"You're always thinking about something," Carlos told him. He pulled away from James and leaned towards Logan as well.

"I'm just wondering how things got this bad," Logan said after a moment, hesitation clear in his voice. "After what happened when we were little, I didn't think– I didn't think Kendall's dad would come back."

"Me either," Carlos and James said quietly.

"He really hurt him," James added. "He deserves to rot in prison."

"Maybe he will." Carlos bit on his bottom lip and looked thoughtfully at James, and then at Logan. "Maybe once all of this is over, he'll go back to being in prison, and this time forever."

"I hope so," Logan said. "I really hope so."

"There's no way they'll let him out of prison after all of this," James said.

"Some people get away with anything," Carlos sighed. "I wouldn't be surprised. But maybe they'll keep a closer eye on him now."

"They need to," James said. "He's not a good person, and he never will be."

"I just hope they're alive."

"Logan—"

Logan shook his head and got up. "He's capable of it. You both saw what he did to Kendall before. And that was when he was little. Who knows what he'd do now."

James and Carlos turned to look at each other. "We know."

"But he said he'd let them go if he got his money," Carlos said. "So I don't think he'd do anything that drastic. At least, not yet."

"Let's hope not," James said.

Logan nodded but didn't say anything after that. He grabbed at his aching head and walked towards the kitchen. Once there, he grabbed a bottle of painkillers from one of the cabinets and a glass of water. He was about to pop the pill into his mouth when a phone started ringing.

He watched as Carlos dove for the phone sitting on the coffee table in front of him and James, his hands shaking. Staring down at the pill in his hand, Logan tossed it into his mouth. He had a feeling he was going to need it.

* * *

Katie awoke to the sound of a siren ringing loudly in her ears. A whimper slipped past her lips as she pried her eyes open and stared at a man who was watching her closely. She didn't recognize him, but judging by the name tag on his vest, she could tell he was a paramedic.

"Shhh, don't move," he told her, his lips pressing into a tight line. "Everything's gonna be alright. Just stay still."

Katie's eyes started to fill with tears. Noticing this, the man beside her took a hold of her hand and squeezed it tightly.

"My name's Mark," he said, giving her a small smile. "You hit your head pretty badly, but it's not as bad as it could be. You have a concussion, but apart from that, you should be okay. Does your head hurt?"

Slowly, Katie nodded.

"That's normal with concussions. When we get to the hospital, the doctors may want to run some tests, to make sure nothing else has happened, but things will be just fine."

Katie nodded, swallowing even though her mouth felt painfully dry. "W-Where is—"

"Your mom?"

"Yes."

"She's in another ambulance."

"Is–Is she okay?"

Mark frowned at her question and diverted his eyes away from her. "She was shot, but in the leg. Leg wounds aren't as serious, so I think she should be okay."

"And… And Kendall?"

"Kendall?"

"My brother. He was–He was there, too."

"I didn't see your brother," Mark told her, watching as her eyes filled up with more tears. One of them managed to leak out from her eye and slowly roll down the side of her face. "But maybe he's in the other ambulance. I'm sure he's somewhere. When we get to the hospital, I'll see if I can find out anything, okay?"

Katie nodded her head, even though the small action caused it to throb. "Thank you."

"No problem," he said.

Katie gave him a small smile, her fingers tightening around his hand. A moment later, she closed her eyes tightly. When she opened them, she gave Mark a quizzical look.

"Who–Who are you?"

"What?"

"Who... are you? Where… am I?"

Mark didn't get a chance to say anything, before Katie's body started convulsing uncontrollably, her eyes rolling to the back of her head.

* * *

Logan's hands were shaking. He hastily put on his jacket and slipped on his sneakers, accidentally stuffing his foot into the wrong sneaker the first time in his hurry. His hair was tousled, eyes bloodshot and wet. He sat on the edge of his bed as he waited for James and Carlos to be ready, his eyes falling on Kendall's side of the room. His eyes scanned the hockey posters on the wall, the photograph framed on Kendall's nightstand, with all four of them in it, his hockey stick leaning against the wall, his crumpled bed sheets.

He felt a lump grow in his throat.

"Hey, are you ready?" James asked, popping his head into the room.

Logan nodded and got up, his legs shaking under his weight. "Yeah, I'm ready. Is Carlos?"

"Yeah. Come on." James wrapped an arm around his shoulders, bringing him to his side. Logan would have usually pulled James away, not being one to be too comfortable with physical contact, but at that moment, he couldn't be bothered to move.

Together, the two of them walked to the living room, where Carlos was sitting, along with Gustavo and Kelly.

"Wait, I forgot my keys." Logan moved to walk back to his room, but James wrapped a hand around his wrist, stopping him. "What—"

"I'm driving you," Gustavo said, dangling his keys in the air.

The lump in Logan's throat throbbed.

"You don't have to. I can drive us just fine."

"I don't think you can. Not in this state," Kelly told him. "Plus, we were heading there anyway."

Logan stood motionless for a moment, his eyes glassy. "Okay."

* * *

James stepped out of the car as soon as they arrived at the hospital and held the door open so Carlos could step out, too. He gave Carlos a small pat on the back, then stuffed his hands into his jeans pockets, so that no one would notice them trembling. He breathed in sharply, before following the other boys, Kelly and Gustavo into the hospital.

Inside, the walls were painted a light beige color. He watched as Kelly stepped towards the front desk, where two nurses were sitting. One was busy typing something into a computer, while the other had a phone pressed to her ear. The one that was talking on the phone held up a finger as her eyes fell on Kelly.

As they waited, James' eyes scanned the waiting room. It was busy and crowded, with only two chairs available. He lightly nudged Logan, who was standing beside him, with his shoulder, and nodded towards the empty chairs.

"You should sit down," he told him, and then turned to Carlos. "Both of you."

"And you?" Carlos asked.

"I'm fine standing up."

"We could take turns."

"I'm fine for now."

Carlos nodded slowly, looking unconvinced, but grabbed Logan's wrist and pulled him towards the empty chairs. James followed closely behind and stood beside them awkwardly, crossing his arms over his chest.

When Gustavo and Kelly approached them, all three of them looked up.

"What did they say?" Carlos asked, rising from his seat. "Are they okay?"

Kelly looked at Gustavo for a second before answering.

"Jennifer's in surgery. Katie…"

"What's wrong with Katie?" James' voice trembled as he eyed Kelly. "Did something happen…?"

"She had a seizure," Kelly said slowly, "on the way to the hospital. She's stable now, but the doctors are running some tests on her. They think she only has a concussion, but they're not sure."

"When will they know?" Logan asked in a quiet voice. He gripped at the chair's armrests with both hands, his knuckles turning white.

"I don't know, sweetheart. But they said they'd let us know as soon as they knew anything."

James clenched his jaw, his hands balling into fists. "He did this, didn't he?"

"We're not sure."

"But he did," James said, in between gritted teeth. "He must've done something."

"We'll know when Katie wakes up," Kelly said, stepping towards him. "But we probably won't know anything for a while."

James didn't respond. He blinked tears away from his eyes and looked away from her – from all of them.

"There's an empty chair over there," she told him, signaling at a chair that was now empty a couple of rows behind them. "You should take a seat. Try to relax."

"I'm fine."

"Honey, you're not. Go sit down, please."

Not wanting to argue with her, James did as she said, his steps slow and heavy. When he got to the chair, he slumped into it, his eyes meeting the back of the chair in front of him, where a woman was sitting, with what appeared to be a baby in her arms.

It wasn't long before Carlos' dad appeared through the entrance, looking exhausted. James watched as Carlos practically sprang from his seat and into his father's arms, his whole body shaking. He had to look away, before he too started to cry.

"James, mijo." He felt a hand on his shoulder a few minutes later and instantly knew it belonged to Antonio. "What are you doing over here, away from the other boys?"

"There was no more room," he said quietly, not looking up.

Antonio was quiet for a moment, his grip on James' shoulder tightening slightly.

"Why don't we go for a walk?"

At this, James looked up. "A walk?"

Antonio nodded. "You, me, Carlos and Logan. Just around the hospital. We'll be back before you know it."

"But, what if something happens?"

"Nothing's going to happen. The doctors are taking good care of them, and Kelly and Gustavo will be here, just in case. But I think a walk will do you some good."

James swallowed and looked back to where Carlos and Logan were seated, watching him closely. "I guess."

Antonio gave him a small smile. "Come on."

With a sigh, James got up from the chair and followed Antonio towards the hospital entrance. Carlos and Logan were soon at his side, solem expressions on both of their faces.

Outside, the air was slightly chilly. He hugged his arms around himself, watching from the corner of his eye as Logan did the same.

"Where are we going?" James called out.

Without turning around, Antonio answered him. "I saw a hotdog cart on the way here," he said. "Figured you boys must be hungry."

"I'm not really—" James began to say, but as if on cue, his stomach started to rumble. "Or maybe I am, a little…"

"I thought so."

Rounding a corner, the four of them caught sight of the hotdog cart. Once they had all ordered, they found a bench and ate their hotdogs in silence.

"So, what happened?" James asked once he had finished his.

"What happened?" Antonio looked at him, his eyebrows knitted together.

"With Katie and Mama Knight. What happened?"

"Oh, that." Antonio was quiet for a moment. "We don't know exactly. We think Kenneth shot Jen. As for Katie… she was hit on the head pretty hard, but we're not sure how."

"Were they both unconscious?"

"When we got there, yes."

"And… Kendall?" Carlos asked, tears pooling in his eyes. "Does no one know anything?"

Antonio shook his head. "He wasn't there, but… there was blood on the floor. We think it might be his."

"Why?"

"It wasn't in the same place Katie and Jennifer were at. But, of course, that's just a theory."

"So… he took him?" Logan asked, his voice cracking. "Again?"

"Unfortunately… yes."

Noticing the way Logan was blinking rapidly and taking in air too quickly, James reached over and squeezed his hand.

"Logan, breathe," he whispered, but at this point, Logan was starting to hyperventilate.

Antonio got up and moved to where Logan was sitting, kneeling at his feet. "Logan, we're going to find him, okay?" he said, his eyes meeting Logan's. "We will."

"I promised him," Logan croaked out. "I-I promised him he wouldn't take him, and he… and he did."

"It was out of your control, mijo."

"But I promised h-him." A lone tear rolled down Logan's cheek. His breathing had evened out a bit, but it was still too fast to be considered normal.

"I know," Antonio told him, "and I understand how you feel. Trust me, I do. But you didn't know this would happen. All we can do now is do our best to bring him home, safe and sound."

"He won't be."

"What?" Antonio asked.

All heads turned to Carlos, who was watching him closely.

"He won't be, safe and sound."

"What do you mean?"

"He's gonna hurt him. Wherever he is, he's gonna hurt him, badly, just like he did before."

* * *

Kendall doubled over as a punch was delivered to his stomach, knocking the air right out of his lungs. He felt tears prick at the corners of his eyes, but he didn't allow them to fall. His father was watching closely, a satisfied smile on his face.

"You talk back to me one more time, and you're gonna get much worse than that," he told him, pulling something out of his pocket. "Don't forget I have this," he said, showing him what was in his hand – a pocket knife.

Kendall remained quiet, his eyes glued to the sharp object.

"You wouldn't want me to hurt you with it, would you?"

Kendall didn't say anything.

" _Would_ you?" his father growled, placing the knife near Kendall's throat.

A whimper slipped past Kendall's lips, his eyes scrunching up in pain.

"N-No."

"What did you say?" Kenneth asked, as he grabbed Kendall's face with two fingers and forced him to look in his direction. "I didn't hear you."

"No."

Letting go of his face, his father stepped back. "Trey, do me a favor and gag him for now."

"What? No!"

Trey was behind him in an instant, a bandana pulled over Kendall's mouth and tied to the back of his head. He squirmed helplessly, his sight blurring with tears.

"Maybe if you can't speak for a while, you'll learn not to talk back to me," his father said. He then turned to Trey. "Help me carry him, won't you?"

"Where to?"

"To the closet."

Trey nodded, grabbed the chair from the back as Kenneth grabbed it from the front, and together, they hauled it to the closet. Kendall tried to scream out, tried to squirm away, but it was useless.

He found himself sitting in complete darkness once again.


	28. Chapter 28

Kendall had never been a huge fan of dark places, and not because he was afraid a hand would suddenly reach out to grab him from within the shadows, like when he was five. He had outgrown that fear a very long time ago, when he'd realized real monsters weren't just a figment of his imagination.

Looking back on it, he can pinpoint when his fear of monsters had vanished – instead being replaced by the fear of being caught by his father, who, whenever they were left alone, would hurt him in unimaginable ways. That is when his fear of the dark became more focused on what would happen once he was caught, and not on what might appear from within it.

Growing up, there had been countless moments in which his father had locked him in dark compartments. His closet, a kitchen cabinet – they went from being safe places where he could hide from his father's vicious fits of anger, to places where he would be punished. Sometimes Kendall didn't even know why he was being punished. All he knew was that he must have done something wrong to make his father so angry.

After he was rescued and taken away from his father, he thought that he would never find himself in a situation such as this one once again. The fear didn't vanish immediately. For months, he had awoken in a cold sweat, shaking and hyperventilating, convinced his father would find him after having yet another nightmare about him. It had taken several years for that fear to be diminished and for him to feel like maybe he would finally be safe. _Maybe_ his father would never find him.

But the universe had a funny way of conspiring against him, because just as things were starting to look up, he found himself face-to-face with his father once again. He wasn't safe anymore, and neither was anyone that he loved, and that is what he hated more than anything.

Feeling bile rise up his throat, he swallowed hard, blinking rapidly, hoping the tears in his eyes would stop falling. His father's words kept ringing in his head. His mom and his sister were gone, probably forever, and even though he knew it was his father's fault, he couldn't help but blame himself too. If it wasn't for him, the two most important people in his life would be alive right now. They wouldn't have had to suffer at the hands of a cruel monster, such as his father.

He stared into the bleak darkness, his hands formed into fists on either side of him. His cheeks were damp with tears, his body still feeling shaky from the sobs that had wracked his body just minutes before. There were no sounds coming from outside the door, no sign that there was anyone on the other side. He knew, however, that he wasn't alone. He had heard his father leave about half an hour before, saying something to Trey about finding a fast food place nearby. He knew that Trey was on the other side. There was no way he would leave him there alone, even if there was no chance he could escape.

Suddenly, he heard the door to the motel room burst open, and not long after that, the doorknob of the closet he found himself in started to jiggle. Light flooded into the small, cramped space as the door was yanked open. His father stood in the doorway, wearing a blank expression on his face.

"You hungry?" he asked.

Kendall shook his head. The last thing he wanted to do was to eat, especially something that he had brought him.

Frowning, his father stepped inside, grabbed onto the back of the chair, and pulled it out of the closet.

Kendall made no sound, instead opting to close his eyes, hoping this nightmare would somehow be over once he opened them again. He could feel his father walking around the chair, the sound of a paper bag filling the eerie silence, before the smell of a hamburger wafted through the air.

He froze as he felt a hand at the back of his head, the presence of his father too close for comfort. It took him a moment to realize what he was doing – untying the bandana from around his head.

"Open your eyes."

Kendall made no move to do as his father said.

"Open them," he said, his tone harsher than before.

Glaring at the face in front of him, Kendall reluctantly obeyed. Kenneth was holding the hamburger about an inch away from his face, making the nausea that Kendall felt intensify at the sight of it.

"I spent money on this," his father said through gritted teeth. "You're going to eat it, whether you want to or not."

"Why should I?" Kendall's voice came out hoarse, his throat feeling painfully dry. "It's not like you care if I eat or not. You'd probably be satisfied watching me die."

For a moment, Kenneth stood frozen, as if being taken aback by Kendall's words. However, that didn't last long, because he regained his composure in a matter of seconds.

Kendall watched as he threw the burger on the ground before stepping on it. Pieces of tomato and lettuce spilled from the burger's edges, the bun and patty being reduced to something that looked like a squashed pancake.

For a moment, Kendall couldn't help but feel satisfied at seeing his father so visibly upset. But the satisfaction was soon replaced by regret as Kenneth threw a punch towards his face with no warning. Kendall didn't even get a chance to attempt to duck his head out of the way.

The impact caused his head to snap back, dizziness temporarily taking over. His nose was bleeding again and throbbing painfully.

In front him, his father smiled and stepped back, crossing his arms over his chest. Kendall wanted more than anything to punch the smug grin off of his face.

Kneeling down in front of him, Kenneth grabbed Kendall's chin with his thumb and index finger, inspecting the wounds on his face. The smile that he wore never vanished. If anything, Kendall could have sworn it grew in size.

"Those are gonna leave some nasty scars," he said with a click of his tongue.

Kendall tried to squirm away from his touch, but he could barely move. He was stuck to this chair, against his will, with a headache that refused to go away.

His eyes hurt. His nose hurt. _Everything_ hurt. He just wanted the pain to disappear somehow. He wanted to be back at the apartment, with James, Carlos and Logan. He wanted his mom and Katie back. He wanted things to be okay again, but he realized with a sinking feeling in his stomach that things would never be okay again. Even if he were to miraculously escape, things would never go back to the way they once were.

If his father was right and his mom and Katie were gone, he would never forgive himself. He would never be able to escape the guilt that came with knowing that he was the cause of their deaths.

"What are you planning to do with him?"

It was Trey's question that pulled him out of his thoughts, his eyes moving to where the man was sitting on a chair next to the bed. His gaze was locked steadily on Kendall.

"Still trying to figure that out," Kenneth said as he stood. "We could still get some money out of him."

"After what just happened, they're going to be searching for you."

"You think I don't know that?" his father snapped, glaring in Trey's direction. "Which is why we can't stay here. Not for long, anyway. We'll have to leave, probably by morning."

"Where will we even go?"

His father let out a heavy breath through his nose, clearly annoyed by all the questions Trey was asking. "Wherever, as long as it's far away from here."

Trey nodded, not saying anything in response.

Kendall had no idea what time it was, but he knew he had less than a day to figure out how to get out of there. Coming up with schemes was easy when he was doing it to get himself and his friends out of a sticky situation. But when it came to life and death, and when it involved only himself, coming up with a way out wasn't as easy. It didn't help that he was constantly being watched, by either his father or Trey. There was no way he'd be able to escape, at least not in a matter of a few hours.

He needed more time. He needed a clearer head.

* * *

Carlos trudged back into the hospital, behind his dad, James and Logan. His limbs felt heavy, and it took all the strength he had in him not to collapse on the floor at that very moment.

Seeming to notice his absence, Logan stopped in his tracks and turned back to look at him. He pressed his lips into a tight line and took the couple of steps towards him. Without saying a word, Logan looped an arm over his shoulders and pulled him close, his expression one of sadness and pain.

Leaning most of his weight against Logan, Carlos allowed him to pull him back towards the waiting room, which had become less crowded during the time that they were gone.

With a sigh, he took a seat beside Kelly, who almost immediately reached for his hand, giving it a light squeeze.

"How are you holding up?" she asked him, her voice only slightly above a whisper.

Not knowing what to say, Carlos shrugged his shoulders, looking down at the white tiles on the floor. "I don't really know," he said and looked up at Kelly, his eyes filling with tears. "This is just… too much."

He felt a hand land on his shoulder and looked to his right to see Logan giving him a tight smile. He tried to smile back, but his lips refused to stay in that position for more than a second.

"They're gonna find him," Kelly said, her thumb rubbing small circles against the back of Carlos' hand.

Carlos nodded back, unable to do much else. He wanted to believe that Kendall would be found safe, that nothing bad would happen to him, but he knew better than that. His father was a monster, and there was no telling what he would do now that there was no one around to stop him.

"Family of Jennifer Knight?"

Carlos felt the hold Kelly had on his hand tighten as they all stood.

A man who looked like he was in his late thirties stood at the front of the waiting room, his eyes scanning the room. When his eyes fell on them, he walked to where they were standing and gave them all a sympathetic smile.

"Good afternoon. My name is Doctor Williams. I'm guessing you're here for Jennifer Knight?" he said.

"That's correct," Antonio said, from where he now stood behind Carlos. Both of his hands came to rest on top of Carlos' shoulders. "Is Jennifer alright?"

Doctor Williams nodded. "The wound was luckily a clean wound, which means no bones were broken or fractured by the bullet. We were able to clean it and suture it. Jennifer is currently in recovery, but she should be waking up from anesthesia soon," he said, a small smile coming to his face. "We'll be keeping her overnight for observation, since often, bullet wounds can lead to infection. But, as long as everything goes well, she should be able to go home by tomorrow afternoon."

"Thank God," Kelly breathed out.

"Can we see her?" It was James who had asked the question, his eyes looking teary as he waited for a response.

"You may," the doctor said after a moment of consideration. "I'll take you to her room."

Carlos started walking forward, along with the others, but he stopped after taking a few steps and turned back to look at his dad. Unlike the rest of them, he hadn't moved from where he had been standing behind him.

"Papi, aren't you coming?"

"You go ahead, mijo," he said, giving Carlos a small smile. "I should probably stay here, in case someone comes by to give us any news on Katie."

Carlos looked hesitant to move forward, but after a few seconds he nodded his head and followed the others. The doctor led them down several hallways, and then took them up to the fourth floor, where the recovery room was located.

When they arrived at Mrs. Knight's room, the three boys stood together in front of the closed door, none of them moving an inch.

"I have to tend to other patients, but I'll be back in a bit to see how she's doing."

"Thank you," Kelly said, her eyes only briefly landing on the doctor before they were back on James, Carlos and Logan.

Once the doctor was gone, she took a step towards them and reached out for the boy that was closest to her, which happened to be James.

"You don't have to go in yet," she told him. "Only if you boys are ready."

Beside her, James swallowed, his shoulders tensing. "She's like a second mother to us," he mumbled. "I don't think I'll ever be ready."

"Me either," Carlos said, letting out a heavy sigh. His hands were shaking, his knees wobbling slightly from underneath him.

"The doctor said the surgery went well."

All eyes turned to Logan, whose gaze was locked on the white door in front of him.

He turned towards them slowly, a hand moving to rub at the back of his neck. "I know none of us are ready to see her in the kind of situation she's in," he said, his words being directed at James and Carlos, "but we should probably go in and sit with her. That way she won't be alone when she wakes up."

"That's true," Carlos said quietly.

James nodded his head in agreement. He was the one to reach out and push the door open, allowing Logan and Carlos to step inside, before following closely behind.

The boys stood in the middle of the room for a moment, without moving. Their eyes were locked on Mrs. Knight, who was laying on a hospital bed, crisp white sheets pulled up to her chest. She lay motionless in the bed, looking smaller than she ever had.

Carlos felt his stomach churn at the sight of her.

He was somehow the first one to move, taking the few steps towards the hospital bed. He reached blindly for the chair closest to him and took a seat. His hands shook as he reached for Mrs. Knight's hand, his fingers curling around hers. The tears came to his eyes before he could stop them, spilling down his cheeks in only a matter of seconds.

He tried to avoid looking at her bandaged leg, which poked out from underneath the sheets, but his eyes kept being drawn to it.

"How could he do this to her?" James asked, his tone sharp.

"I don't know," Logan said as he moved around the bed and took the seat opposite to Carlos. "Some people are just… cruel."

"I don't feel well," Carlos mumbled as he let go of Mrs. Knight's hand and wrapped his arms around himself.

"What's wrong?" Logan was by his side in an instant, James only one step behind him. He bent down in front of Carlos, who now had his eyes closed tightly.

"Nothing, I'm–I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" James asked. "You don't look fine."

"I just… I feel sick."

"Sick how?" Logan asked. "Sick like you feel like you're gonna throw up?"

Carlos nodded wordlessly.

Logan shared a worried look with James, who looked like he didn't know what to do.

"Should I call your dad?" James asked, but Carlos shook his head.

"No."

"Come on," Logan said, pressing a hand to Carlos' lower back. He guided Carlos to a door that was connected to the hospital room, which led to the bathroom.

James had to tear his eyes away from the scene unfolding in front of him, starting to feel nauseous himself.

"Is he okay?" he asked after about a minute had passed, his voice shaking.

Instead of answering him, Logan stepped out of the bathroom, guiding a shaken up Carlos back to the chair he had previously been sitting on.

"I think so," he finally said, his eyes still scanning Carlos for any sign that would indicate that he was wrong. "I think he just panicked."

"Litos, are you okay?" James asked, because he felt the need to hear it from Carlos himself.

Slowly, Carlos looked up, his eyes red and watery. "Yeah," he said, his voice barely reaching James' ears. "I'm okay."

James nodded, even though he was unconvinced, and moved to where Carlos was. He squeezed his shoulder lightly, hoping the small gesture would bring him some comfort, because he wasn't sure what else to do. There wasn't much else he _could_ do, after all.

Mama Knight and Katie were hurt. Kendall was missing, and it was all out of their control.


End file.
